ICE extends lease on Texas detention centre where three migrants died
Article excerpt
Three people have died in the Texas detainment centre Camp East Montana since it opened last year.
Three people have died in the Texas detainment centre Camp East Montana since it opened last year.
Authorities have extended the lease on a controversial migrant detention centre in the US state of Texas despite calls for its closure following accusations of human rights abuses.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced last week that it will keep the Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, site open for at least another year, costing taxpayers an additional $776m.
For months, Democratic members of Congress and several advocacy organisations have called for Camp East Montana to be closed, citing reports that detainees have been routinely mistreated since its opening in August 2025.
“They’re getting substandard food. They’re not getting the medical [care] that they need. This place needs to be shut down,” Veronica Escobar, a Democratic congresswoman in Texas, told Al Jazeera.
A joint report by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found severe assaults by guards against detainees, medical neglect, overcrowding and a lack of transparency in the facility.
“The guards beat us. When one person speaks up for themselves, they take it out on all of us,” one detainee told investigators. “They beat you for just insisting on getting your rights, food or medicine when you don’t get it.”
Three detainees have died since Camp East Montana opened on August 1 last year.
The camp held about 1,600 detained non-citizens at the end of February 2026, according to the US government.
The facility did not meet key detention standards, “risking the safety and security of detained noncitizens and staff”, according to a June 2026 report published by the US Government Accountability Office.
The Trump administration continues to defend its border strategy, pointing to low levels of border crossings and maintaining that ICE officers are operating in a dangerous environment.
Democrats in Texas and across the US have taken up the issue and pressured officials to moderate ICE’s policing and enforcement methods.
The Human Rights Watch and ACLU report is “only expected to intensify” the national debate over immigration enforcement in the US, Al Jazeera’s Eva McKend said.
In a statement to Al Jazeera, ICE said no detainees are being beaten or abused, and that those in custody have access to food, medical care, legal counsel and communication with their families.