EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 Two disturbances have been reported within a week at the Camp East Montana detention facility, including one that involved injuries to security staff.<\/p>\n
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the most recent incident happened yesterday. Officials said about 130 detainees were throwing items, flipping furniture, and disabling security cameras. <\/p>\n
However, no injuries were reported.<\/p>\n
A second incident happened on Sept. 1. In a statement to KFOX14\/CBS4, a DHS spokesperson said detainees assaulted security staff by hitting, kicking, and throwing tables at them. <\/p>\n
While detainees were removed from the dormitory and operations returned to normal, multiple security staff sustained injuries and received medical care, DHS said. <\/p>\n
The disturbances come after allegations and concerns of abuse, inhumane conditions, medical neglect, and use of force have continued to be raised at Camp East Montana. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Additionally, since mid-December, three people have died at Camp East Montana, which was built last year to house thousands of immigrants.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, originally from Cuba, was the second migrant who died on Jan. 3. His death was later ruled a homicide by \u201casphyxia due to neck and torso compression,\u201d according to an autopsy report obtained by KFOX14\/CBS4.<\/p>\n
Eleven days after Lunas Campos\u2019 death, Victor Manuel Diaz marked the third death at the detention facility. The 36-year-old Nicaraguan man was found unresponsive in his room. On-site medical staff and responding El Paso EMS performed life-saving measures but were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
While DHS has continued to deny allegations of abuse and inhumane conditions, ICE has also conducted its own internal review of the detention center, finding similar conditions, and hired a new contractor, who promised that conditions in the facility would improve.<\/p>\n
In April, an internal ICE inspection found 49 deficiencies across the facility, including issues involving security, medical care, and how staff documented use of force.<\/p>\n
The inspection was conducted Feb. 10 through 12 by ICE\u2019s Office of Professional Responsibility.<\/p>\n
While the report found no deficiencies in food service, saying meals met federal nutrition standards, the report found problems with how staff documented use-of-force incidents, including missing reports, a lack of documented medical checks, and failures in how those incidents were reviewed, including video not being properly documented.<\/p>\n
Those findings came weeks before ICE moved in March to end its contract with the company operating the facility, Acquisition Logistics, and bring in a new contractor, Amentum Services Incorporated.<\/p>\n
RECOMMENDED: ICE extends no-bid contract for Camp East Montana, rejecting calls for closure<\/a><\/p>\n RECOMMENDED: Report: Dozens allege abuse and medical neglect at Camp East Montana<\/a><\/p>\n