WASHINGTON (AP) — A newly released report from Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union reveals that dozens of people held at a large Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Texas say they were physically assaulted by guards or witnessed fellow detainees being beaten.
The 84-page document, released jointly on Wednesday, focuses on Camp East Montana, located at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss in El Paso. According to the report, men and women held there described being denied needed medical treatment, forced to live in unsanitary conditions, given meals that were inedible, and cut off from contact with attorneys and family members.
Out of 71 detainees who were reached over a five-month period, 64 — roughly 90% — reported either being personally attacked by staff or witnessing physical abuse of others.
“ICE’s Camp East Montana is a human rights disaster,” said Angélica César, a fellow at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU who served as a lead researcher on the report. “The U.S. government should shut it down, conduct independent investigations into all abuses and deaths in custody, and put an end to mass deportations and mandatory immigration detention.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
These latest accounts are consistent with earlier reporting by The Associated Press and other outlets. At least three detainees have died at the facility since it opened in August. One of those deaths involved a 55-year-old Cuban migrant who was handcuffed, held down by guards, and stopped breathing earlier this year. A local medical examiner later ruled that death a homicide.
A federal report issued last month by the Government Accountability Office found that evidence in that case was “missing or destroyed.” The same report concluded that mismanagement by the Department of Homeland Security had created dangerous conditions contributing to detainee deaths and suffering, while millions in taxpayer dollars were wasted and funneled to contractors.
In March, ICE removed Acquisition Logistics, LLC — a Virginia-based company that had been awarded a contract worth up to $1.3 billion to build and operate the camp. The firm had no prior experience running an ICE detention facility, had never previously won a federal contract exceeding $16 million, and did not have a functioning website at the time.
That contractor change followed an internal ICE review that identified 49 deficiencies — defined as violations of detention standards or policies — in areas such as use of force, security, and medical care.
However, interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch and the ACLU as recently as last month suggest that serious problems have continued even after the contractor was replaced.
Detainees described bathrooms covered in feces, flooded living areas, and no access to soap or basic hygiene products. Many reported being confined indoors for weeks with little to no access to outdoor recreation, sunlight, or fresh air.
Detainees also reported receiving spoiled food and erratic meal schedules, with gaps between meals stretching as long as 12 hours.
According to the report, guards reportedly beat detainees in response to hunger strikes, requests for medical attention, and complaints about living conditions. Several individuals said guards also engaged in collective punishment — striking multiple people after accusing just one detainee of breaking a rule.
Researchers also found that staff pressured detainees into giving up their immigration claims and accepting removal to third countries when they could not be returned to their home nations. Those who refused deportation said they were threatened with violence, criminal charges, and indefinite detention.
In some instances, the report concluded, the conditions at the facility could rise to the level of enforced disappearances — a potential violation of international human rights law.
Human Rights Watch and the ACLU are calling on the Trump administration to shut down Camp East Montana and allow independent investigations into deaths in custody, excessive use of force, medical neglect, and enforced disappearances.
“The abuses documented at Fort Bliss are the predictable outcome of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, its brutal expansion of immigration detention, and the erosion of federal oversight mechanisms,” César said. “People at Camp East Montana are human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity and protected from harm.”
