On June 9 the U. S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report which documented “significant, pervasive issues” at the Camp East Montana Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Center located on the grounds of the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss military base near El Paso, Texas. This massive, privately operated tent facility was only opened in mid-August 2025, but already has three deaths, including the Jan. 3 homicide at the hands of guards of Geraldo Lunas Campos. According to the GAO report, evidence from this murder case is now “missing.”
In February ICE inspectors issued a separate report which found that contractors at this facility violated 22 federal standards on use of force and restraints, and failed to submit written reports to ICE. In September the Trump administration’s own inspectors found 60 violations of ICE standards in just the first 50 days of operation. The GAO report also detailed the case of a fully loaded firearm which was lost by a contract guard in January and remains missing despite several searches.
Internal inspections showed the facility routinely failed to perform health assessments on arriving detainees as required by contract. The GAO found that due to this, people with serious chronic conditions had no treatment plan, and the facility failed to prevent a months-long measles outbreak where 14 people were infected.
