A new federal report has detailed a cascade of mismanagement, unsafe conditions, and contractor failures at a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Texas, contributing to detainee deaths and the waste of millions in taxpayer dollars. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, released Tuesday, focuses on Camp East Montana, a sprawling tent facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso.
The report documents three detainee deaths in just over six months, including the January death of 55-year-old Cuban migrant Geraldo Lunas Campos, who died after being restrained by guards. The GAO found that evidence related to Campos's death was "missing or destroyed." Another death, that of 36-year-old Nicaraguan detainee Victor Manuel Diaz, was ruled a suicide after staff placed him in a medical holding room that lacked required vision panels and left him unattended for extended periods.
The report states that ICE rushed to open the camp in August 2025 before construction was complete, failing to conduct required oversight to ensure sanitary conditions and adequate medical care. The contract for the $1.3 billion facility was awarded to Acquisition Logistics, a small company with no prior experience operating detention centers, leading to what ICE itself called a "significant learning curve." The report details numerous failures, including a lack of security cameras, inadequate tuberculosis screening that led to an outbreak, and millions wasted on services for an empty facility.
The Department of Homeland Security noted that ICE has replaced the contractor, stating the new provider will ensure higher detention standards and more on-site medical care. The GAO's findings echo previous reporting by The Associated Press and other outlets, but also reveal previously undisclosed incidents, such as a detainee escape in October and a security guard losing a loaded firearm inside the facility in January, which was never recovered.