Two prominent human rights organizations have released a damning report alleging serious mistreatment of detainees held at a federal immigration detention facility in Texas, including physical beatings by guards, denial of medical treatment, and being blocked from reaching family members and attorneys.
The report, jointly released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, runs dozens of pages and draws on 80 interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch with individuals held at Camp East Montana, a detention facility situated at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss installation in El Paso.
“People detained at Camp East Montana reported routine beatings and other excessive force by guards, chronic malnutrition, and unsanitary and degrading living conditions,” the report stated. “Together, these abuses violate fundamental protections under U.S. and international human rights law.”
This latest report adds to a growing body of investigations that have examined conditions at the facility, which holds the distinction of being the largest immigration detention center in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE, pushed back strongly, with U.S. media citing a DHS statement calling the allegations of inhumane conditions “categorically false.” The agency did not respond to a separate request for comment from Reuters. DHS also disputed claims that detainees were physically harmed and said ICE takes the health and safety of those in its custody seriously. The agency has issued similar denials in the past when confronted with abuse allegations at other ICE facilities.
The report includes a striking account from a detainee identified as Ismael M., a 28-year-old from Honduras, who described struggling deeply with his mental health during more than five months in detention.
“I sometimes look at my bed sheets, and I wonder if it would be easier to hang myself instead of trying to survive this torture,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
Camp East Montana has drawn repeated criticism from immigration advocacy groups. A U.S. government watchdog report released last month found that the facility failed to file required use-of-force reports, withheld medication from seriously ill detainees, and squandered tens of millions of taxpayer dollars through hastily arranged contracts.
ICE has become a central figure in the immigration enforcement and deportation campaign pursued by President Donald Trump, an effort that human rights organizations have criticized as violating free speech and due process protections. Rights groups have also raised concerns that the crackdown has created an unsafe climate, particularly for ethnic minorities who say they have been subjected to racial profiling. Trump has maintained that his immigration policies are intended to strengthen domestic security.
Since Trump returned to office in January of last year, approximately 50 people have died while in ICE custody across the country.
