Lawsuit alleges deadly health and safety failures at Texas ICE detention camp

Attorneys for detainees filed a motion for preliminary injunction in federal court, urging the judge to order ICE to remedy “dire” conditions at Camp East Montana, the nation’s largest immigration detention facility located on Fort Bliss. Experts Dean Williams and Jeffrey Keller described the environment as “shocking” and linked poor healthcare and unsanitary living quarters to preventable deaths and serious injuries. The complaint details alleged guard abuse, verbal slurs, delayed medical attention, and outbreaks of measles, tuberculosis, and other contagious illnesses, as well as chronic shortages of food, soap, and basic hygiene items.

The case, filed by the ACLU Foundation, ACLU Foundation of Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project and law firm Farella Braun + Martel, also requests an independent monitor to enforce compliance. ICE’s contractor Amentum Services took over operations after three detainee deaths, but the Department of Homeland Security maintains the allegations are “categorically false”.