Dozens of detainees at Camp East Montana, the largest immigration detention center in the United States, have reported to civil rights investigators that they endure beatings, medical neglect, malnutrition, and inhumane living conditions. The center, privately operated and located inside the Fort Bliss Army Base near El Paso, Texas, has a capacity of 5,000 detainees.

On July 16, 2026, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a joint report based on interviews with 71 detainees. The report states that 64 of these detainees, housed in at least five different tent units, either personally experienced or witnessed beatings by so-called "anti-disturbance" guards. One detainee described, "The guards run into our pod in groups of 15, sometimes it looks like 20."

The detainees also reported being forced to live in filth, suffering life-threatening medical neglect, and having their communication with the outside world cut off at times. One detainee recounted going a month without seeing the sun and described the experience as torture due to being confined without outdoor access.

The report highlights the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos on January 3, 2026, at Camp East Montana. While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially claimed Lunas Campos died during a suicide attempt and struggle with guards trying to save him, the El Paso Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death a homicide by asphyxiation.

Angélica César Rosales, a fellow at Human Rights Watch and author of the report, said, "People during our interviews described unbearable cruelty and international human rights violations."

This report adds to a series of human rights investigations and internal government audits documenting widespread abuses at Camp East Montana.

Sources