Additional Coverage:
- ICE’s largest detention center branded ‘graveyard for the living’ in horror ACLU report (themirror.com)
A recent report has revealed shocking conditions at Camp East Montana, the largest immigration detention center in U.S. history, describing it as a “graveyard of living people.”
The facility, opened in August 2025 on the Fort Bliss military base along the New Mexico-Texas border, currently holds up to 5,000 detainees in a series of large canvas tents. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), many detainees have reported being denied due process, subjected to abuse, and forced to endure inhumane living conditions during their deportation proceedings.
Lorenzo P., an immigration detainee interviewed in December 2025, poignantly described the facility as a place where “anything can happen to you here.” His testimony is part of an extensive 84-page ACLU report titled “You’re Only Getting Out Deported or Dead: Abusive US Immigration Detention at Ft. Bliss,” based on interviews with 80 detainees, 71 of whom were held at Camp East Montana.
The report exposes a range of disturbing practices and conditions, including overcrowded tents housing up to 72 people each, unsanitary living spaces, and widespread allegations of physical abuse by guards. Detainees recounted being confined for prolonged periods without access to sunlight, fresh air, or recreation. Many described bathrooms covered in feces, flooded cells, inadequate cleaning, and a lack of basic hygiene supplies such as soap and sanitizer.
Further concerns highlighted in the report include medical neglect, spoiled food, and irregular meal schedules with delays sometimes lasting up to 12 hours. Additionally, numerous detainees reported being apprehended by masked officers using excessive force during raids and community encounters. More than 60 interviewees claimed they were arrested despite presenting documentation proving their legal residency status.
The ACLU and Human Rights Watch also documented instances where detainees’ locations were not accurately reflected in government tracking systems, leaving families uninformed and raising allegations of enforced disappearances under international human rights law.
In response to recent deaths of detainees in ICE custody and ensuing protests, White House border czar Tom Homan has mandated that all ICE officers wear body cameras. However, advocates argue that more systemic changes are urgently needed.
“ICE’s Camp East Montana is a human rights disaster,” said Angélica César, Aryeh Neier Fellow at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU. “The U.S. government should shut it down, conduct independent investigations into all abuses and deaths in custody, and end mass deportations and mandatory detention.”
This report sheds critical light on the human toll behind the nation’s immigration enforcement policies, calling for immediate attention to the treatment of those detained within the vast network of U.S. immigration facilities.