All articles tagged with #camp east montana
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is taking steps to close Camp East Montana, a large migrant detention facility at Fort Bliss near El Paso that opened less than eight months ago, according to an internal ICE document reviewed by The Washington Post; the planned shutdown, following a turbulent period that saw three detainees die at the camp, would end the detention experiment.
ICE confirmed at least 14 measles cases at Camp East Montana in El Paso, the agency’s largest detention facility, with infected detainees cohorted and isolated and the site closed to visitors as health authorities monitor containment. The outbreak comes amid scrutiny over the facility and its contractor, Acquisition Logistics LLC, and after three detainees have died in custody since Camp East Montana opened; lawmakers have called for the camp to be shut down and for an investigation into the contractor.
Measles has triggered an outbreak at the El Paso Camp East Montana ICE detention site, with at least 14 active cases and 112 detainees isolated as the facility is closed to visitors. Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar and other lawmakers are calling for the camp’s shuttering amid ongoing concerns about medical care and deteriorating conditions, linking the outbreak to broader criticism of detention practices and past infectious-disease incidents at the camp.
Thirteen detainees at Camp East Montana near Fort Bliss in El Paso have contracted measles, prompting quarantines and restricted movement as ICE health workers monitor and treat patients; the incident comes amid rising measles cases nationwide and ongoing scrutiny of conditions and medical care at U.S. immigration detention facilities.
Six migrants died in ICE custody in Texas over six weeks, including at the Camp East Montana tent facility, prompting renewed scrutiny of medical care, oversight, and plans to expand detention capacity in the state.
The El Paso Medical Examiner ruled the death of 55‑year‑old Cuban detainee Geraldo Lunas Campos at Camp East Montana a homicide, citing asphyxia from neck and torso compression. ICE initially said he died from medical distress and later suggested suicide; Campos reportedly had bipolar disorder and anxiety. He is the third detainee to die at Camp East Montana, which ICE operates as the country’s largest immigration detention center, and four detainee deaths have been recorded in Texas detention centers in the past two months (Gaspar-Andres, Lunas Campos, Núñez at East Montana; Diaz at East Montana; Núñez died in Conroe). The camp’s fatalities come amid ongoing scrutiny of ICE detention conditions and handling of detainees.
Family of Cuban immigrant Geraldo Lunas Campos says a fellow detainee witnessed guards choking him to death in ICE custody at Camp East Montana in El Paso on Jan. 3, while officials say the death was suicide. They have asked a court to block the deportations of two witnesses who could testify in a forthcoming wrongful-death suit.
A Nicaraguan man died in ICE custody at the Camp East Montana detention facility near Fort Bliss in El Paso, marking the third death at the site. ICE says the death is a presumed suicide and the official cause is under investigation, as critics urge officials to shutter the privately run facility following multiple fatalities this month.
A medical examiner employee told the detainee’s daughter that, pending toxicology results, the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos at Camp East Montana is likely to be listed as a homicide with asphyxia from neck/chest compression, while ICE says he died after attempting to take his own life in a struggle. Eyewitness accounts and internal ICE records describe guards restraining him, underscoring concerns about detention conditions, the use of force, and the role of private contractors at the facility amid a rise in detainee deaths.