A new federal report has exposed severe mismanagement at a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas, linking unsafe conditions to detainee deaths and millions of dollars in wasted taxpayer funds. The Government Accountability Office report, released Tuesday, details a litany of problems at Camp East Montana, a sprawling tent facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso, where three detainees have died in just over six months.
The report found that evidence in one death—that of a 55-year-old Cuban migrant who died in January after being restrained by guards—was missing or destroyed. ICE rushed to open the camp in August before construction was complete and failed to conduct required oversight to ensure sanitary conditions and adequate medical care, according to the GAO.
The Department of Homeland Security said ICE has replaced the contractor running the facility, but the report's findings echo previous reporting by the Associated Press and other outlets. The GAO, an independent, nonpartisan congressional agency, opened its review at the request of Democrats.
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois called the findings "damning," stating that the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign has created conditions that "shock the conscience." The report details how the contract was routed through the Army to speed construction, resulting in the selection of Acquisition Logistics, a small contractor with no prior experience in detention operations. The Army and ICE wasted millions paying for services not needed, including $11.5 million for guards, medical services, transportation, and meals before detainees even arrived.
The facility also failed to meet detention standards, lacking security cameras, wheelchair accessibility, and ADA-compliant showers. The recreation area, law library, and visitation space were delayed for weeks.
Detainees did not receive comprehensive health assessments, and the contractor cleaned dormitories weekly instead of daily. In one incident, a security guard lost a loaded firearm that was never recovered.
The contractor failed to administer tuberculosis skin tests, leading to an outbreak after a detainee with TB was housed with the general population. The report also noted that a detainee escaped in October due to oversight failures, and that staff failed to prevent a suicide in February by placing a detainee in a medical holding room without vision panels.
The family of the deceased detainee, Victor Manuel Diaz, is considering a wrongful death claim, with attorney Randall Kallinen calling the failures "huge discrepancies."