EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — El Paso City Council members are set to consider a push to close Camp East Montana, a migrant detention center located on Fort Bliss, after two representatives placed the issue on an upcoming council agenda.
City Representatives Josh Acevedo and Lily Limón placed an item before City Council calling for the facility’s closure.
The item is expected to be discussed at a City Council meeting next week on Oct. 27 and directs the city manager and city attorney to draft a resolution calling for the facility’s closure.
“It is long past time to close this draconian facility that has been proven to bring harm to people housed there,” Acevedo said. “Attorneys, civil rights organizations, and members of Congress have issued alarming concerns about the maltreatment and unlivable conditions at Camp East Montana, raising further concerns after three people have died while in custody.”
He added, “El Paso is a welcoming, binational community that prides itself on being one of the largest border communities on the planet. We are a community that upholds human dignity, human rights, workers’ rights, and civil rights. I urge my colleagues on the City Council to join me in calling for the closure of this inhuman facility.”
Camp East Montana is a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility that has been operated privately since it began operations on Aug. 1, 2025, as part of a broader federal effort to expand immigration detention capacity following increased enforcement actions.
The council item calls for a resolution calling for the closure of Camp East Montana, citing several issues, including detainees having reported being denied legal access, inhumane treatment, excessive force, and medical neglect with no congressional oversight.
According to the council item, the facility has also posed a public health risk after a measles outbreak occurred at the detention center over the summer, impacting nearly 180 detainees
While Camp East Montana is a federal facility and would need federal approval to close the detention center, city leaders hope the item “urges the United States Congress to use its appropriations to close Camp East Montana and to end the contracts that fund its operation.”
The public is invited to sign up and speak during the Oct. 27 meeting.
READ THE AGENDA ITEM:
D2- Resolution on Camp East MontanaPDF previewPreview PDF
The item placed on next week’s agenda comes as allegations and concerns of abuse, inhumane conditions, medical neglect, and use of force have continued to be raised at Camp East Montana.
In June, a federal lawsuit was filed by a coalition of civil rights organizations, including the ACLU and Human Rights Watch, against ICE, alleging widespread abuse, medical neglect, and unconstitutional conditions at Camp East Montana.
Attorneys representing detainees describe Camp East Montana as a humanitarian crisis, citing allegations of severe medical neglect, excessive use of force by guards, arbitrary solitary confinement, unsanitary living conditions, and inadequate food. The lawsuit argues that conditions at the facility violate detainees’ Fifth Amendment due process rights and federal administrative law.
RELATED: Quarantine at Camp East Montana affects 178 detainees after possible measles exposure
Meanwhile, this is not the first time city leaders have urged more action against Camp East Montana.
In March, during a City Council meeting, representatives agreed to ask the El Paso City Attorney to move forward with a request for the grand jury to conduct a full investigation into the deaths that occurred at Camp East Montana, the largest immigration detention facility in the country.
Since mid-December, three people have died at Camp East Montana, which was built last year to house thousands of immigrants.
According to ICE, 48-year-old Francisco Gaspar-Andres died from natural causes. An autopsy obtained by KFOX14/CBS4 states that Gaspar-Andres died from complications of liver disease. He was the first migrant who died at Camp East Montana.
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