{"id":209699,"date":"2026-03-18T11:41:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/209699\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T11:41:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:41:17","slug":"camp-east-montana-operates-under-new-ice-contractor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/209699\/","title":{"rendered":"Camp East Montana operates under new ICE contractor"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that a new contractor will oversee Camp East Montana in El Paso, the largest migrant facility in the nation that has been under fire since its opening.<\/p>\n

ICE has released the following statement to KTSM about the new contractor:<\/p>\n

\u201cAmentum has been a close partner with ICE in managing Camp East Montana and was best suited to take over as the prime government contractor for this facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmentum\u2019s size, maturity and pedigree make them the right partner at the right time and we will work closely with them in their implementation of higher standards of medical care, more thorough case processing and intake procedures, and delivery of performance requirements according to well-defined accountability measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cICE will continue to ensure that all of the detainees in our custody receive the level of care, service, and medical support they need to match our high detention standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

This comes after the facility has come under fire after three deaths in the six months that Camp East Montana has been open, a call for closure from Democrats and others, and residents raising their voices about having the facility in their backyard.<\/p>\n

Francisco Gaspar-Andres, Geraldo Lunas Camps and Victor Manuel Diaz were all detainees who have died at Camp East Montana. The El Paso County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office ruled Lunas Campos\u2019 death as a homicide, saying he died of \u201casphyxia due to neck and torso compression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Autopsy: Cuban man detained at Camp East Montana died of asphyxia; manner ruled homicide <\/a><\/p>\n

Attempted suicides, fights, pain: 911 calls reveal misery at ICE\u2019s largest detention facility <\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, along with 23 other Democratic members of Congress, have called for the closure of Camp East Montana. She and her colleagues sent a letter last month to former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, questioning the conditions at the facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cCamp East Montana was constructed in a matter of weeks and opened before construction was complete, and it does not have enough federal staff on-site to provide adequate oversight. Over the last several months, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, in whose district this facility is located, has sent multiple letters to DHS and ICE regarding concerns about the conditions at Camp East Montana, and has received no responses,\u201d read part of the letter.<\/p>\n

Congresswoman Escobar, others call for closure of Camp East Montana <\/a><\/p>\n

Escobar has also voiced her concerns about detainees\u2019 health conditions as there has been a measles outbreak at the facility, with 14 cases confirmed on March 3. DHS has said they will enforce a quarantine until March 19 or 20.<\/p>\n

Local leaders, advocates and residents have also come out to speak against Camp East Montana. Many protests have happened in Downtown El Paso and in front of the facility. El Paso Catholic Bishop Mark Seitz issued a pastoral letter on the mass deportations and detentions, saying they represent \u201ca grave moral evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor these reasons, I must make clear, the current national campaign of mass detention and deportations is a grave moral evil, one which must be opposed, with prayer, peaceful action and acts of solidarity with those affected. In these acts, we touch the wounds of Jesus Christ, and in this solidarity, we carry forward the hope of the Resurrection. God is on the side of justice, and as we journey towards Easter, we know that God is fashioning a new humanity that reflects God\u2019s blessings for all people,\u201d read part of Seitz\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n

Seitz calls mass detention, deportations a \u2018grave moral evil\u2019 <\/a><\/p>\n

KTSM 9 has reached out to Amentum for comment.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that a new contractor will oversee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[40686,138,140,139,82218,498,2569],"class_list":["post-209699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-camp-east-montana","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-government-contractor","tag-ktsm","tag-veronica-escobar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}