EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 Legal organizations in Texas are asking a federal judge to order improvements to living conditions at Camp East Montana, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s largest immigration detention facility. <\/p>\n
Attorneys representing detainees at Camp East Montana filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on Thursday, asking U.S. District Judge Leon Schydlower of El Paso to order the Trump administration to provide adequate medical care, access to food, and other improvements. <\/p>\n
“Conditions at the encampment remain dangerous and inhumane. Plaintiffs therefore urgently request that the Court issue a preliminary injunction, in line with courts across the country, to protect the health and safety of all who are or will be detained at Camp East Montana,” the motion states. <\/p>\n
Speaking to KFOX14\/CBS4 on Friday, senior supervising attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project, Daniel Hatoum, said the motion seeks to order the government to act now, adding that “the detention facility has to change so that people inside no longer suffer a form of punishment because they are in immigration detention.” <\/p>\n
“It seeks an order near the beginning of a lawsuit that requires the entity that’s being sued to follow the law while the lawsuit is going on. And basically the point here is that right now when we look at Camp East Montana, people are dying. People have died from neglect, but also the intentional abuse by guards. And that’s just like the beginning of what’s wrong… We cannot wait the length of an entire lawsuit for any type of relief in this litigation,” Hatoum said. <\/p>\n
According to the filed motion, “irreparable injury is likely” if the court does not grant the request. <\/p>\n
“Next, the record amply demonstrates that \u201cirreparable injury is likely in the absence of an injunction,\u201d” the injunction states. <\/p>\n
Hatoum said this would mean detainees will continue to face suffering and “likely die.” <\/p>\n
“The evidence is there that shows that these problems are ongoing and that they’re happening now and that more people will likely die and face suffering if we don’t act accordingly. We have been meeting with detainees for months at Camp East Montana. We’ve been asking about their stories. And the fact that there are 40 demonstrates and goes to the credibility of those detainee. This is not one person complaining about conditions at the center. This is a group of people all with a consistent story talking about the abuse that they suffer and why this is one of the most notorious immigration detention facilities in the country,” Hatoum said. <\/p>\n
In a press release from the Texas Civil Rights Project, named plaintiff Gerald Akari Angye called for immediate action, adding that conditions seem to be only getting worse. <\/p>\n
\u201cUrgent protection is desperately needed at Camp East Montana,\u201d Angye said. \u201cToday, people are still being detained in this windowless camp with inadequate food, water, medicine, and recreation. People with health issues do not receive the care they need. This case remains important to me because I am a voice for those harmed by this regime. I will never be the same after the violence I experienced by guards at Camp East Montana. Many others are still being held in those horrible conditions. The United States preaches democracy and human rights, but it is separating families and torturing people who are seeking safety. The world is watching. The inhumane conditions at Camp East Montana seem to be getting worse. No one of good conscience can support what is happening there. I plead with the court to give relief to people held in the horrible Camp East Montana.\u201d<\/p>\n
When reached for comment regarding the preliminary injunction, an ICE spokesperson said it “does not comment on pending litigation.”<\/p>\n
As of the latest update, the government had not filed a response to the injunction request, and the judge had not ruled. <\/p>\n
READ THE MOTION: <\/p>\n
gov.uscourts.txwd.1172911925.52.0PDF previewPreview PDF<\/p>\n
View PDF<\/a><\/p>\n Meanwhile, the injunction comes as allegations and concerns of abuse, inhumane conditions, medical neglect, and use of force have continued to be raised at Camp East Montana, which opened in August 2025 as part of a broader federal effort to expand immigration detention capacity following increased enforcement actions.<\/p>\n In May, 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 RELATED: <\/a>Report: Dozens allege abuse and medical neglect at Camp East Montana<\/a><\/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