‘Unsafe’ conditions at Texas ICE facility put immigrants at risk of injury or death, lawsuit says

Key points

• A new court filing says Camp East Montana detainees face serious injury or death from unsafe conditions.
• Experts describe abuse by guards, filthy living areas and outbreaks of measles and tuberculosis.
• The filing asks a judge to declare conditions unlawful and appoint an independent monitor.

Attorneys and experts say immigrants held at Camp East Montana, the largest immigration detention facility in the US, face a risk of serious injury or death because of extreme health and safety hazards, according to a new court filing reported by the Guardian. The tent jail sits on the Fort Bliss military base in west Texas and opened last year.

The documents were filed on Thursday night in federal court in the western district of Texas, El Paso, as part of a class-action lawsuit filed in May against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit was brought by the ACLU Foundation, the ACLU Foundation of Texas, the Texas Civil Rights Project and the law firm Farella Braun + Martel LLP on behalf of detainees.

What the filing alleges

The filing describes relentless physical and verbal abuse by guards, filthy and crowded living conditions, repeated outbreaks of measles and tuberculosis, and what it calls egregious medical neglect that has caused unnecessary suffering and death. Detainees are said to lack soap, nail clippers and edible food, and to go days or weeks without seeing the sun.

One correctional expert, Dean Williams, said in testimony that conditions at the facility "shock the conscience" and go far beyond those of the most secure prisons he has overseen, even though it is a civil detention facility. Another expert, doctor and administrator Jeffrey Keller, said poor healthcare and unsafe conditions there have resulted in preventable death.

Poor healthcare and unsafe conditions at Camp East Montana have resulted in preventable death and put all people at risk of harm, including serious injury and death

— Jeffrey Keller

What the lawsuit seeks

The new motion for a preliminary injunction asks the judge to find the conditions unlawful and order improvements, with an independent monitor enforcing compliance. It also asks the court to order the defendants to protect detainees' health and safety.

The Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE, has previously said claims of inhumane conditions at Camp East Montana are categorically false. The Guardian said DHS, ICE contractor Amentum Services and the Pentagon were approached for comment, and the Pentagon referred it to DHS.