49 Violations, 3 Deaths, $1.2 Billion: Inside the Federal Inspection of America's Largest Immigration Detention Camp

A federal inspection of Camp East Montana — a sprawling tent encampment on the grounds of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas — documented 49 violations of detention standards across medical care, security, and use of force, according to a report released by ICE this week [1]. The facility, which opened in August 2025 and holds nearly 3,000 detainees daily, has already seen three deaths in custody, a contractor replacement, and mounting calls from lawmakers for a Department of Justice investigation [2].

What the Inspectors Found

ICE's Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) conducted a congressionally mandated inspection over three days — February 10 through 12, 2026 — and identified 49 deficiencies, defined as violations of detention standards or policies [1]. That count is nearly four times higher than the maximum of 13 deficiencies found in any other ODO inspection conducted in 2026 [1].

Source: ICE Office of Detention Oversight

Data as of Apr 2, 2026CSV

The largest category — 22 deficiencies — involved use of force and restraints. Security guards who used or witnessed force, including handcuffs and other restraints, failed to file written reports in some instances [1]. Staff did not consistently record use-of-force incidents on video, as required [3]. Eleven additional deficiencies concerned facility security and control: inspectors found tools and equipment "unsecured and unaccounted for throughout the facility," an inaccurate ammunition inventory, and perimeter security gaps that had already allowed a detainee to escape [1][3].

Five deficiencies related to medical care. Medical staff failed to isolate a detainee showing symptoms consistent with tuberculosis — a disease that spreads through the air — and did not notify ICE of the case [1]. Poor sanitation at the camp had contributed to the spread of disease, including two tuberculosis cases and 18 cases of COVID-19 [2]. The camp took between six and 14 business days to respond to a dozen grievances detainees filed about medical care [1].

Staff also failed to accurately document required checks to prevent significant self-harm and suicide — a finding that carries particular weight given that 911 calls from the facility show self-harm has been a recurring problem [1][2].

Despite these findings, ODO rated the facility "acceptable/adequate" and recommended that ICE work with the new contractor "to resolve the deficiencies that remain outstanding" [1].

Who Conducted the Review — and What Power It Has

The inspection was carried out by ICE's own Office of Detention Oversight, one of four DHS entities that inspect immigration detention facilities. The others are the ICE Health Service Corps, DHS's Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and the DHS Office of Inspector General [4].

ODO conducts what are called "compliance inspections" — pre-announced reviews that assess whether facilities meet the Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS 2011), a set of guidelines governing conditions of confinement [5]. But ODO's enforcement authority is limited. It can document violations and recommend corrective action, but it cannot independently levy fines, revoke a facility's contract, or compel specific changes. Those decisions rest with ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) [4][6].

A 2018 DHS Inspector General report found systemic weaknesses in this model: ERO field offices did not always respond to deficiency findings, sometimes submitted incomplete responses, or reported that violations would continue because of "local policies or conditions" [6]. A separate Government Accountability Office review found that of 33 facilities inspected in response to complaints, 31 — roughly 94% — were non-compliant with the specific standard that triggered the inspection [4][7].

The $1.2 Billion Contract and Its Collapse

Camp East Montana was built and initially operated under a contract awarded in July 2025 to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a Virginia-based company whose primary experience was providing logistics and supply chain services to Department of Defense agencies [8]. The contract was valued at up to $1.3 billion, with approximately $232 million allocated upfront, and was set to run through September 2027 [8][9].

Acquisition Logistics had never won a federal contract worth more than $16 million prior to the Camp East Montana award and lacked a functioning website at the time of the contract's announcement [9]. It refused to provide ICE inspectors with information about staffing levels during the February inspection, making it impossible for ODO to determine whether staffing was sufficient to maintain security [1].

On March 12, 2026, ICE terminated its contract with Acquisition Logistics and transferred operations to Amentum Services Inc. under a nearly $453 million no-bid contract running through September 30, 2026 [9][10]. Amentum had previously served as a subcontractor at the facility. ICE has not publicly detailed the specific reasons for ending the Acquisition Logistics relationship, though the contractor change followed months of reporting on conditions at the camp [9].

Three Deaths in Five Months

Since Camp East Montana opened in August 2025, three detainees have died in custody there — out of 25 total deaths across the entire ICE detention system since October 2025, a pace that NPR described as a record [2].

Francisco Gaspar-Andres, a Guatemalan national, died in December 2025 of kidney failure following a two-week hospitalization [2].

Geraldo Luna Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban national, died in January 2026. DHS initially attributed the death to "medical distress," but an autopsy ruled it a homicide caused by "asphyxia due to neck and torso compression" [2]. No charges have been filed.

Victor Manuel Diaz, a Nicaraguan national, died on January 14, 2026. DHS described the death as a suicide. His family has disputed that characterization, saying they remain uncertain about the circumstances [2].

Attorney Randall Kallinen said the inspection findings show "Camp East Montana gets an F" and that detainees face risks of "excessive force" and "improper or negligent medical care" [1]. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) called the findings "a drop in the bucket" of the facility's problems and described conditions as "very troubling" [1][2].

A System Under Strain: 73,000 Detained Nationwide

The Camp East Montana inspection comes against the backdrop of a rapid expansion in immigration detention. As of January 2026, ICE held approximately 73,000 individuals in custody — the highest level in the agency's history and an 84% increase from the same period in 2025, when the detained population was below 40,000 [11][12].

Source: TRAC Immigration / ICE ERO

Data as of Jan 24, 2026CSV

The number of active detention facilities has also surged. By late 2025, ICE was using 212 detention centers, an increase of 108 facilities — or 91% — compared to the start of that year [12]. This expansion has relied heavily on private contractors. GEO Group operates 19 ICE facilities; CoreCivic operates at least ten [13]. ICE pays roughly $165 per day per detainee, though rates vary by facility and contract structure [13].

The FY2026 DHS appropriations negotiations have centered on funding for approximately 44,500 detention beds, an increase from 41,500 in FY2024 [14]. Critics including Human Rights First have argued that additional bed funding enables further expansion without corresponding investment in oversight or compliance enforcement [14]. A proposed DHS deal included measures such as expanding body camera usage, requiring footage retention, and mandating reporting to the DHS Inspector General, though it remained unclear at time of publication whether those provisions would survive final negotiations [14].

The Legal Framework: Standards Without Force of Law

The conditions at Camp East Montana are measured against the PBNDS 2011 — the Performance-Based National Detention Standards, first developed in 2008 and revised in 2016 [5]. These standards address medical and mental health services, legal access, recreation, food service, use of force, and grievance procedures [5].

But the PBNDS are agency guidance, not legally binding regulations. A Congressional Research Service analysis noted that they are "advisory" and that "failure to meet them is not met with serious, if any, consequences" [5][15]. The standards apply to "dedicated" facilities that house approximately 68% of the detained population; the remaining facilities — including many local jails with intergovernmental service agreements — operate under less stringent 2019 National Detention Standards or older guidelines [5][15].

The constitutional floor for detention conditions comes from the Fifth Amendment's due process clause, which courts have interpreted to require provision of "basic human needs" — food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and reasonable safety [15]. Because immigration detention is civil rather than criminal, detainees are theoretically entitled to conditions at least as protective as those afforded to convicted prisoners under the Eighth Amendment. In practice, advocates argue, immigration detainees often face worse conditions because the oversight mechanisms lack teeth [6][15].

ICE and DHS have defended the existing framework. ICE's Detention Management division states that it "employs a robust and multilevel oversight and compliance program" involving four inspecting entities [4]. Facility operators have pointed to passing inspection ratings — ODO rated facilities as "acceptable or above" in 238 of 241 inspections during fiscal years 2022 through 2024 — as evidence that the system functions [4].

Critics counter that these near-universal passing rates reflect weak standards rather than strong compliance. The National Immigrant Justice Center described the inspection system as "abusive," noting that the contracted inspection firm Nakamoto Group has been found to lack "consistently thorough" practices [6][16]. In one case, the DHS OIG recommended in March 2022 that ICE immediately stop detaining people at the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico after it failed inspection. ICE rejected the recommendation, continued detaining hundreds of people there, and the facility subsequently received a "meets standards" grade from a follow-up Nakamoto inspection [16].

How U.S. Detention Compares Internationally

The United States operates the world's largest immigration detention system. Over 90% of detainees are held in privately run facilities [17]. The system has no statutory limit on detention duration, and individuals can be held for months or years while their cases proceed.

Other countries that detain migrants pending removal operate under different models. Canada also lacks a maximum legislated time limit on immigration detention and has drawn criticism for housing migrants in provincial jails alongside criminal populations [17]. Australia has used offshore processing on Nauru and Papua New Guinea, a system that a 2015 Australian Human Rights Commission report found caused mental health disorders in a third of detained children [17]. Germany manages immigration detention at the regional level, contracting security and care to private companies, and limits detention to 18 months under EU law [17].

Sweden's immigration detention centers, by contrast, allow detainees to wear their own clothes, share rooms between two people, and access computers, internet, telephones, and visitation rooms around the clock [17]. The average detention period in Sweden is significantly shorter than in the United States.

Direct comparison of violation rates or detainee-to-staff ratios across countries is limited by inconsistent reporting standards and definitional differences. The Global Detention Project, which tracks immigration detention worldwide, has noted that the U.S. system is unique in its scale, its reliance on private operators, and its lack of binding national standards with enforcement mechanisms [17].

What Happens Next

The ODO report recommended that ICE work with Amentum Services to resolve outstanding deficiencies, but did not specify a remediation timeline or outline consequences for failure to comply [1]. The inspection was conducted while Acquisition Logistics was still the operator; ICE has framed the contractor transition itself as a step toward improved conditions [9].

Contractually, ICE retains the ability to terminate agreements with facility operators for non-compliance, as it did with Acquisition Logistics — though the agency cited no single cause for that termination [9]. There is no automatic mechanism that triggers facility closure or detainee transfer when violations are found. Whether Congress has appropriated sufficient funds to move detainees to alternative facilities in the event of sustained non-compliance remains an open question: the current appropriations framework funds bed space, not facility-specific compliance enforcement [14].

A federal judge ruled in March 2026 that DHS cannot bar members of Congress from making unannounced visits to ICE detention facilities, reinforcing legislative oversight authority [14]. Rep. Escobar has called for a DOJ investigation into conditions at Camp East Montana [2]. ICE has stated that the facility is "upgrading" rather than closing [2].

The 49 deficiencies documented in February represent a snapshot of a facility that has been open for less than a year, has already cycled through one contractor, and has recorded more deaths in custody than any other single ICE facility during the same period. Whether the contractor change and ongoing oversight will produce measurable improvements remains to be seen.