Investigation Reveals Disturbing Conditions at Nation’s Largest ICE Detention Center

Emergency 911 calls and witness accounts expose dangerous conditions at Camp East Montana in Texas, the country's biggest immigration detention facility. The investigation reveals overcrowding, medical neglect, and two deaths since the facility opened in August.

EL PASO, Texas — A comprehensive investigation has uncovered alarming conditions at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, the United States’ largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, according to documents and recordings obtained by The Associated Press.

Emergency call records from over 100 incidents, combined with witness testimonies and legal documents, paint a troubling picture of overcrowded conditions, inadequate medical care, insufficient nutrition, and widespread psychological distress at the facility.

Former and current detainees paint a grim picture of daily life for approximately 3,000 individuals housed in noisy, unsanitary conditions. They report difficulties accessing healthcare while illnesses spread throughout the population, significant weight loss due to inadequate meals, and intimidation from security personnel who reportedly use physical force during confrontations.

“Every day felt like a week. Every week felt like a month. Every month felt like a year,” said Owen Ramsingh, a former property manager in Columbia, Missouri, who spent several weeks in the camp before his deportation in February to the Netherlands. “Camp East Montana was 1,000% worse than a prison.”

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson who did not provide their name rejected claims of subprime conditions, saying Camp East Montana detainees receive food, water and medical treatment in a facility that is regularly cleaned.

The investigation revealed several key findings:

Emergency response data from El Paso shows facility personnel contacted 911 services almost daily during the first five months following the center’s mid-August launch, totaling 130 documented calls.

Audio recordings capture harrowing moments: one features a man weeping after being attacked by another detainee, while another documents a physician reporting a man repeatedly striking his head against walls while expressing thoughts of self-harm. A third call involves a nurse describing a pregnant woman experiencing intense pain while infected with coronavirus.

Medical emergencies have affected detainees ranging from a 19-year-old who fell from his bunk to a 79-year-old experiencing breathing difficulties. Documentation shows at least 20 incidents involved seizures, with several resulting in significant head injuries.

The emergency calls demonstrate a pattern of self-harm attempts and expressions of suicidal ideation among detainees.

Two fatalities have occurred at the facility. On Jan. 3, ICE reported that security personnel responded to a 55-year-old Cuban man’s self-harm attempt, subsequently using restraints and physical force to subdue him. Medical examiners determined Geraldo Lunas Campos’s death was a homicide caused by asphyxia.

On Jan. 14, personnel reported the suicide death of a 36-year-old Nicaraguan man, occurring days after his detention while working in Minnesota.

Beyond these deaths, El Paso records document at least six additional suicide attempts.

The DHS spokesperson said the facility’s staff “closely monitors at-risk detainees” and provides mental health treatment.

The Washington Post reported in September that a required ICE inspection found conditions at the facility violated at least 60 federal standards for immigration detention. But that report has never been released, unlike dozens of other inspections at facilities posted on ICE’s website.

DHS has called claims of violations described in the Post story false without explaining why the inspection report was wrong. ICE’s current database on detention facilities indicates Camp East Montana has never been inspected but is scheduled for one this fiscal year.

A DHS spokesperson said ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight recently completed an inspection at Camp East Montana but provided no other information and the results have not been made public.

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat who has toured the camp several times, is calling for its closure.

“This facility should not be operational. It feels like this contractor is reinventing the wheel, and people are losing their lives in their experiment,” she said.

She said the facility had temporarily cut its population below 1,900 when she visited last month and will be closed to visitors temporarily because of a measles outbreak.

During one inspection, a female detainee presented Escobar with a small portion of scrambled eggs that remained frozen in the center. The congresswoman discovered that detainees had organized protests after administrators eliminated juice, fruit and milk from their meal service.

Escobar met with a detainee from Ecuador who said his arm had been broken during a violent arrest by immigration agents in Minnesota. Weeks later, the congresswoman could still the fractured bones in his forearm poking up under the skin.

Escobar called for an investigation into contractor Acquisition Logistics LLC, which was awarded a contract worth up to $1.3 billion to build and operate the camp. She said the company, which didn’t return messages, and its subcontractors were not delivering services paid for by taxpayers.

“People should be moved by the abject cruelty, but if they’re not, I hope they’re moved by the fraud and corruption,” Escobar said.

If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org