The ACLU, ACLU of Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project, Human Rights Watch and private counsel have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the operation of Camp East Montana, a sprawling tent detention facility on the grounds of Fort Bliss in El Paso. The complaint, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, demands that a court find the site’s conditions unlawful and halt its continued use while violations persist.
Plaintiffs describe a constellation of harms: multiple deaths, a prolonged disease outbreak, dozens of inspection failures and patterns of alleged mistreatment by staff. The filing seeks both individual relief for named detainees and class certification so that all people held there can be represented by the suit.
Allegations in the complaint
The legal filing catalogs a range of claims. Among the central allegations are severe medical neglect, including a months-long measles outbreak that reportedly infected at least 14 people, and insufficient responses to other health risks. Inspectors documented nearly 50 violations of national detention standards during a February inspection by the ICE Office of Detention Oversight, the complaint says.
Advocates also cite at least three deaths at the facility since its opening in August 2026, and they highlight one incident ruled a homicide involving facility staff. The complaint alleges routine exposure to environmental hazards — tents with openings that admit dust storms and contribute to respiratory illness — as well as overflowing sewage and unsanitary living quarters.
Use of force, solitary confinement and coercion
Beyond medical and environmental concerns, the suit details accounts of violent physical force by officers and coercive tactics that pressured detainees to abandon immigration claims or sign removal papers. Plaintiffs assert widespread and often punitive use of solitary confinement to punish requests for basic care like medical attention or hygiene supplies.
Named plaintiffs provide vivid firsthand accounts: one man reports being beaten after asking for legal counsel and coerced into signing documents; another describes broken teeth after an assault while guards allegedly failed to intervene. Several detainees report being moved across state or international lines under false pretenses of having obtained asylum or other legal relief.
Facility background and context
Camp East Montana opened in August 2026 amid a rapid expansion of immigration detention capacity. Built on land with a fraught history — previously part of a site used to intern Japanese Americans during World War II — the tent complex can hold up to 5,000 people and was funded as part of a larger, costly detention build-out.
Advocates have been raising alarms about the site’s design and operation since its launch. According to the complaint and earlier letters sent in December 2026 and May 2026, interviews with dozens of detained people produced consistent reports of neglect, violence and dehumanizing conditions. The lawsuit argues that because the facility serves as a civil detention center, the confinement must not be punitive and must meet constitutional standards under the Fifth Amendment and statutory requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Inspection findings and legal claims
The ICE Office of Detention Oversight inspection cited numerous deficiencies that, according to the suit, exposed detainees to avoidable harm. The complaint seeks declaratory and injunctive relief: a court determination that the government’s continued operation of the camp while it fails to meet detention standards is unlawful, and orders to remedy the systemic violations.
Voices from inside and advocates’ objectives
Several detainees who are named plaintiffs describe physical and psychological suffering. One plaintiff who says he fled torture in his home country recounts being beaten in the U.S. facility and still wearing a brace on his wrist. Another plaintiff uses a pseudonym to describe long-term detention, separation from children and an environment that the suit says drives some people to contemplate self-harm or to give up on legal claims for fear of further abuse.
Representatives from the filing organizations call Camp East Montana a civil rights catastrophe and emphasize that their goal is both to stop ongoing harm and to secure accountability. Counsel argue that all individuals, regardless of immigration status, are entitled to basic human dignity and that the government’s decisions to open and continue operating the tent camp were unlawful.
Next steps and access to the complaint
The case proceeds in federal court, where plaintiffs ask that the matter be certified as a class action so the relief sought would apply broadly. The full complaint and plaintiffs’ written statements are publicly available through the ACLU and partner organizations for those seeking the detailed allegations and supporting documentation.
As proceedings move forward, the suit will test whether federal courts will intervene to impose operational limits or closure while the facility remains out of compliance with detention standards. For now, advocates emphasize the immediate moral and legal stakes: stopping what they call systemic mistreatment and preventing further deaths and disease among people held at Camp East Montana.
