Report details abuse, negligence at Texas ICE detention center

A scathing report released by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) details widespread alleged abuses and negligence at the Camp East Montana immigration detention center in Fort Bliss, Texas. The 84-page document is based on interviews with 71 individuals held at the facility over a five-month period.

According to the report, a staggering 64 detainees, approximately 90% of those interviewed, claimed they had suffered physical assaults from staff or had witnessed such attacks against others. Detainees also reported being denied necessary medical attention and forced to endure unsanitary living conditions. Furthermore, they faced obstacles in communicating with their legal counsel and families.

Angelica Cesár, a researcher involved in the report, described Camp East Montana as a "human rights disaster" and urged the U.S. government to close it. Testimonies within the report paint a grim picture of the camp's interior, citing dirty bathrooms, flooded living units, and a lack of basic hygiene supplies like soap. Some individuals reported being confined for weeks without adequate access to sunlight, fresh air, or recreational activities.

The report also highlights issues with food quality and inconsistent meal schedules, with some detainees experiencing up to 12-hour gaps between meals. These conditions reportedly persisted even after ICE changed contractors. The report links some assaults to detainees engaging in hunger strikes, requesting medical assistance, or protesting their confinement, suggesting that guards responded to such actions with physical force. Collective punishment was also reportedly employed, with entire groups facing repercussions for the alleged rule-breaking of a single individual.

Investigators concluded that staff actively pressured detainees to abandon their immigration claims or accept deportation to third countries if they could not return to their home nations. Detainees reported facing threats of violence, criminal prosecution, and indefinite detention if they refused deportation. The report suggests that the lack of information regarding the whereabouts of some individuals contributed to these pressures.

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Camp East Montana is a human rights disaster. The United States government should close it.