Rights groups allege abuse at largest US immigration detention site

EL PASO (MNTV) — A Human Rights Watch and ACLU investigation has documented allegations of widespread abuse, medical neglect, and squalid conditions at Camp East Montana, the largest immigration detention facility in the United States.

The 84-page report drew on interviews with 71 detainees held between October 2025 and June 2026. Sixty-four said they had been physically abused by guards or had seen others assaulted. Researchers also documented delayed medical care, restricted outdoor access, inadequate food, and retaliation against those who complained, with some describing collective punishment — force used against entire groups — when detainees protested over food, medical needs, or conditions.

Human Rights Watch called the facility a serious human rights concern and demanded its closure and an independent investigation.

Opened in 2025 at Fort Bliss near El Paso with plans to hold thousands, Camp East Montana has drawn criticism since its creation over contracting, oversight, and whether basic safeguards existed before it opened.

Detainees have filed lawsuits alleging excessive force and inadequate care, and government reviews have flagged missing infrastructure and poor contract management.

The site has also been linked to several deaths, with the circumstances of one disputed between detainees and officials amid questions over evidence handling.

The federal government rejected the allegations, saying detainees receive proper medical care, meals, and legal access, and describing the facility as improving rather than closing.

But the accumulation is the problem: when detainees, legal organizations, and oversight bodies independently report the same pattern, the official denial strains.

Lawmakers from Texas and New Mexico are pressing for transparency, stronger oversight, and possible closure — leaving Camp East Montana as a live test of whether anyone is accountable for how the United States treats the people it detains.