{"slug":"fort-bliss-camp-east-montana-detention-abuse","title":"Camp East Montana: Beatings, Medical Neglect and Deaths at the ICE Tent Camp on Fort Bliss","date":"2026-07-15","lastUpdated":"2026-09-01","description":"Camp East Montana, a tent detention camp for up to 5,000 people on the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, is the largest immigration detention facility in the United States. A July 15, 2026 joint report by Human Rights Watch and the ACLU, based on 80 interviews including 71 people detained there, documents beatings by masked guards, collective punishment, life-threatening medical neglect, filthy conditions, coercive removals to third countries and, in some cases, what HRW calls enforced disappearance. At least three men died there between December 2025 and January 2026. The death of Cuban detainee Geraldo Lunas Campos on January 3, 2026 was ruled a homicide by asphyxia, and the autopsy says he became unresponsive while being physically restrained. An internal ICE investigation identified unreported uses of force, medical neglect and missed suicide checks. DHS calls the allegations 'categorically false.'","summary":"Human Rights Watch and the ACLU documented beatings, medical neglect and coercive deportations at Camp East Montana, the ICE tent camp on Fort Bliss and the largest US immigration detention facility. Three men died there within weeks, one in a death ruled a homicide. ICE's own inspection found unreported uses of force. DHS denies all of it.","category":"deportation-to-torture","severity":"severe","ongoing":true,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/15/us-deaths-neglect-in-fort-bliss-immigration-detention","title":"US: Deaths, Neglect in Fort Bliss Immigration Detention","publisher":"Human Rights Watch"},{"url":"https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/07/15/youre-only-getting-out-deported-or-dead/abusive-us-immigration-detention-at-ft","title":"'You're Only Getting Out Deported or Dead': Abusive US Immigration Detention at Ft. Bliss","publisher":"Human Rights Watch / ACLU"},{"url":"https://www.jurist.org/news/2026/07/human-rights-organizations-document-deaths-and-abuse-at-fort-bliss-immigration-camp/","title":"Rights organizations document deaths and abuse at Fort Bliss detention camp","publisher":"JURIST"},{"url":"https://www.kzyx.org/national-news/2026-07-15/human-rights-watch-report-details-abuse-at-immigration-detention-center","title":"Human Rights Watch report details abuse at immigration detention center","publisher":"NPR (via KZYX)"},{"url":"https://www.propublica.org/article/camp-east-montana-mental-health-immigration","title":"Records Show Immigrant Detention Facility Failed to Provide Adequate Care to Detainee in Mental Health Crisis","publisher":"ProPublica"},{"url":"https://www.texastribune.org/2026/09/01/911-calls-camp-east-montana-texas-detention/","title":"Listen to 911 calls from inside an immigration detention center","publisher":"The Texas Tribune"},{"url":"https://www.texastribune.org/2026/01/21/texas-el-paso-immigrant-death-ice-custody-homicide/","title":"Autopsy rules death of Cuban immigrant in ICE custody in El Paso a homicide","publisher":"The Texas Tribune"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["ICE","immigration detention","Fort Bliss","Camp East Montana","deaths in custody","use of force","medical neglect","military bases","Human Rights Watch","ACLU"],"relatedEntries":["ice-detention-deaths","alligator-alcatraz-detention-torture","solitary-confinement-surge","third-country-deportations-africa"],"timeline":[{"date":"2025-12-03","title":"Francisco Gaspar-Andres dies","summary":"Francisco Gaspar-Andres, 48, of Guatemala, dies of liver and kidney failure after being held at Camp East Montana (Texas Tribune)."},{"date":"2026-01-03","title":"Geraldo Lunas Campos dies; death later ruled homicide","summary":"Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, of Cuba, dies at Camp East Montana. The medical examiner rules his death a homicide by 'asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.' The autopsy states he became 'unresponsive while being physically restrained by law enforcement.' ICE first said he died of 'medical distress', then that he had attempted suicide. HRW/ACLU witnesses said he had asked for medication in solitary and cried 'I can't breathe!'"},{"date":"2026-01-14","title":"Victor Manuel Díaz found unresponsive","summary":"Victor Manuel Díaz, 36, of Nicaragua, is found unresponsive with fabric around his neck in mid-January; his autopsy has not been made public (Texas Tribune)."},{"date":"2026-02-12","title":"ICE internal inspection documents unreported uses of force","summary":"An ICE inspection conducted February 10-12, 2026 documents 'impermissible and unreported uses of force' (HRW). The HRW/ACLU report describes the resulting April 2026 internal investigation as identifying unreported uses of force, medical neglect, failures to conduct required suicide and wellness checks, inadequate sexual abuse prevention, and unanswered grievances."},{"date":"2026-07-03","title":"ProPublica publishes medical examiner records; family sues contractors","summary":"ProPublica reports that Lunas Campos's three adult children have sued the companies running the camp, and reports on a nearly 300-page medical examiner's file showing he complained at least eight times about skipped or late antipsychotic doses and was held more than 100 days, and that staff dismissed a suicide attempt as a 'gesture.'"},{"date":"2026-07-15","title":"HRW and ACLU publish 'You're Only Getting Out Deported or Dead'","summary":"The 84-page joint report calls for the camp's closure and for independent investigations into deaths, excessive force and medical neglect. DHS, the Defense Department and contractors did not respond before publication; DHS later called the findings 'categorically false.'"},{"date":"2026-09-01","title":"911 recordings show recurring medical emergencies","summary":"The Texas Tribune publishes recordings from more than 160 emergency calls obtained through public records requests, including calls about suicidal ideation, a COVID-19 patient lacking oxygen and an overdose."}],"location":{"name":"Camp East Montana, Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas","lat":31.813,"lng":-106.422},"custom":{"posture":"reported","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Convention Against Torture","article":"Article 16","provision":"Obligation to prevent cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including beatings and collective punishment of detainees"},{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 6 and Article 10","provision":"Right to life in custody; persons deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for inherent dignity"},{"statute":"International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (not ratified by the US)","provision":"Human Rights Watch concludes that in some documented cases detention practices 'amounted to enforced disappearance under international human rights law'"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"People detained at Camp East Montana, up to 5,000 at a time; among the dead, Francisco Gaspar-Andres (48, Guatemala), Geraldo Lunas Campos (55, Cuba) and Victor Manuel Díaz (36, Nicaragua).","perpetrators":"ICE, which operates the camp; the private contractors that staff it; the Department of Defense, which hosts it on Fort Bliss; DHS leadership, which has denied the findings.","keyPoints":["Camp East Montana holds up to 5,000 people in pens inside five tent-like structures, with up to 72 people per pod, on the Fort Bliss Army base (HRW/ACLU).","The 84-page HRW/ACLU report, 'You're Only Getting Out Deported or Dead' (July 15, 2026), is based on 80 interviews conducted from October 2025 to June 2026, 71 of them with people detained at the camp.","Documented abuses include beatings by masked, unidentified guards, collective punishment, retaliation against people seeking medical care, feces-covered bathrooms, meals delayed up to 12 hours, and outdoor recreation limited to about 15 minutes once every two weeks.","Three men died between December 2025 and January 2026: Francisco Gaspar-Andres (Dec. 3), Geraldo Lunas Campos (Jan. 3; ruled a homicide by asphyxia) and Victor Manuel Díaz (mid-January) (Texas Tribune).","An ICE internal investigation, which HRW dates to an inspection on February 10-12, 2026 and the report dates to April 2026, documented 'impermissible and unreported uses of force,' medical neglect and failures to conduct required suicide and wellness checks (HRW/ACLU).","DHS: 'inhumane conditions at Camp East Montana are categorically false. No detainees are being beaten or abused' (NPR)."],"legalBasis":"ICE Performance-Based National Detention Standards; Fifth Amendment due process protections for civil detainees; Convention Against Torture Article 16; ICCPR Articles 6 and 10.","postureNote":"Documented by an 84-page HRW/ACLU report, ICE's own internal inspection, medical examiner records and Texas Tribune and ProPublica investigations. A wrongful-death suit by the Lunas Campos family is pending. DHS denies all abuse allegations, and no closure or independent investigation has been announced.","relatedIncidents":["ice-detention-deaths","alligator-alcatraz-detention-torture","solitary-confinement-surge","third-country-deportations-africa"]}}