When Camp East Montana opened its gates at Fort Bliss this August, few could have predicted just how quickly the new immigration detention facility would become the subject of national scrutiny. But within just 50 days of operation, the facility racked up at least 60 violations of federal standards, according to an inspection report cited by The Washington Post on September 16, 2025. The revelations have sparked an outcry from lawmakers, advocacy groups, and former detainees alike, raising urgent questions about the treatment of migrants and the oversight of privately managed detention centers in the United States.
Camp East Montana was fast-tracked into existence in late July 2025, when the federal government awarded a nearly $232 million contract to Virginia-based Acquisition Logistics. The company, known for its work in supply chain management but with no prior experience in detention operations, was tasked with building and managing a facility capable of holding up to 5,000 detainees. The urgency was palpable: construction began just days before the first migrants arrived on August 1, with the camp still an active construction site when they were marched in, as reported by The Washington Post.
Within weeks, the problems became apparent. Detainees were housed in large tents amid ongoing construction, with basic amenities lacking or outright nonfunctional. According to an August memo obtained by the Post, some toilets and sinks did not work for the first few weeks. Water would seep into cells when others used the showers, a detail shared by Ricardo Quintana Chavez, a 57-year-old asylum-seeker who spent 24 days at the facility before being deported to Peru. Chavez described rarely being allowed outside and subsisting on a diet of cookies, candies, and potato chips instead of proper meals. "I was rarely allowed outside," he told The Washington Post. "We were fed junk food, like cookies and potato chips, not real meals."
Federal standards require that detainees receive at least one hour of recreation per day, five days a week. Yet, inspectors found that at Camp East Montana, recreation time was limited to about 40 minutes per session, with some detainees receiving only three sessions over a two-week period. These lapses in basic welfare were compounded by a lack of access to telephones—detainees received only unreliable tablet computers for communication—and by the persistent problem of detainees being kept in the dark about their legal status. Many did not know who their deportation officer was, in direct violation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) standards.
The inspection report, which has not been made public but was obtained by The Washington Post, painted a grim picture of medical care at the facility. Intake screenings were not conducted, and medical charts were incomplete, making it impossible to identify detainees' medical or mental health conditions. In some cases, detainees were placed on suicide watch without proper monitoring, and psychotropic medications were administered without recorded consent. The medical contractor, Loyal Source—a Florida-based firm criticized in 2022 for critical understaffing—was found wanting yet again.
Crystal Sandoval, Director of Community & Capacity Building at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, described the conditions as "very deficient." She said, "It takes a long time for them to be able to see either a doctor or nurse or someone to take care of them." Sandoval also noted that most detainees she spoke with had been transferred from other troubled facilities, setting expectations painfully low. "If there is not enough security, enough people there to service the needs of the detainees, that's just an accident waiting to happen," she warned, adding that the situation "could also lead to something fatal happening on site."
Security at the camp was another major concern. The ICE inspection found that Camp East Montana lacked an approved security policy. While armed guards had been trained on how to use their weapons, they had not been given clear guidelines on when lethal force was appropriate. The facility was also understaffed: Acquisition Logistics had planned for 452 detention officers once the population reached 1,000, but when that threshold was surpassed, only 286 officers were on duty. This shortfall, critics argue, left both guards and detainees vulnerable.
Legal access and due process, cornerstones of the American justice system, were also found lacking. Detainees' family members and attorneys struggled to locate them, as their whereabouts were not listed on ICE's website. Legal representatives were reportedly turned away at the facility's gates, as was Texas Representative Veronica Escobar, despite complying with ICE's demand for a week's advance notice. U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-Dallas) joined several lawmakers in publicly criticizing ICE for failing to provide detainees with meaningful access to legal representation. "People detained at this facility—including immigrants—have a constitutional right to due process and the right to counsel in immigration court. ICE must ensure detained individuals have meaningful, timely, and confidential access to legal representation," Crockett said in a press release. She added, "Failure to do so undermines the integrity of immigration proceedings and places individuals at risk of unjust outcomes—including avoidable injuries or even death while detained or after deportation."
Advocacy groups have been quick to condemn the facility. The Border Network for Human Rights, which had previously warned that the opening of Camp East Montana would lead to "abuse, neglect, and systemic violations of civil and human rights," called the report a confirmation of their worst fears. "These are not isolated incidents but part of a repeating cycle in which migrants are treated as disposable in the name of enforcement," the group stated, according to KTSM 9 News.
The site itself carries a heavy legacy. Camp East Montana sits on ground previously used as an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II and, more recently, as a holding center for children separated from their parents under the Trump administration's controversial immigration policies. This history, combined with the current allegations, has only intensified calls from advocacy groups and lawmakers for the facility's closure.
Despite repeated requests, the Department of Homeland Security has yet to respond to these allegations. ICE, for its part, sets the standards for immigrant detention and holds contractors to those agreements. Facilities with too many violations can, in theory, be shuttered. Yet, as Michelle Brané, a former immigration detention ombudsman, told The Washington Post, "There is no way that this facility should be operating with their current numbers, let alone expanding."
Looking ahead, Camp East Montana is expected to hold up to 2,700 migrants by the end of September and as many as 5,000 by year’s end, making it the largest detention facility of its kind in the country. For now, the story of Camp East Montana stands as a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges—and controversies—at the heart of America’s immigration system.
