Federal Report Details Millions Wasted at Nation's Largest ICE Detention Facility

The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the nation's largest immigration detention facility wasted millions of dollars and failed to meet basic health and security standards after the Army hastily opened Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The facility, which opened in August 2025 under a $1.3 billion Army contract that ICE later assumed control of, was built under compressed timelines that forced officials to make decisions that prioritized speed over operational readiness.

Army and ICE officials acknowledged that expedited directives from senior leadership shaped their acquisition approach. The Army selected a contractor without prior detention services experience and used a contracting vehicle never before employed for detention operations. This inexperience created cascading problems that the GAO documented in its report.

The GAO identified several deficiencies resulting in millions of dollars of waste. The Army failed to incorporate contract flexibilities to account for occupancy levels below maximum capacity. During the facility's first 15 days of operation in August 2025, when no detainees were housed there, the Army still paid the full cost for meals.

When the facility opened, it lacked key detention standards including security cameras around the perimeter, outdoor recreation areas, and spaces where detainees could meet with attorneys and family members. ICE did not inspect the facility before housing detained immigrants there, violating its own policy requirements.

The ICE Health Services Corps conducted a site visit in December 2025 and found that the contractor failed to provide treatment to detainees with chronic conditions. The facility could not accommodate detainees using wheelchairs, forcing some to be held in medical care rooms instead. Nearly 180 detainees are currently quarantined due to possible measles exposure, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The facility also experienced a serious weapons control failure. ICE issued a discrepancy report accusing the contractor of losing a loaded firearm that was never recovered. The GAO report stated the incident exposed staff, detained immigrants, and the public to significant risk, including potential unauthorized access to firearms.

Three people have died at the facility since its opening. One death, that of Geraldo Lunas Campos, was initially attributed to a suicide attempt by DHS but was later ruled a homicide by the local medical examiner. The contractor failed to provide use of force and death reports to ICE, and evidence associated with the incident was missing or destroyed. Attorneys for the Campos family filed an emergency petition in January citing reports that guards choked and asphyxiated Campos. A footnote in the GAO report indicates an ongoing criminal investigation into the incident.

In April, DHS announced it had hired a new contractor for the facility after terminating the original contract. A DHS spokesperson stated that ICE is always looking at ways to improve detention facilities and provide better care. The new contractor, the agency said, will allow the facility to provide more medical care on-site with additional staff and a precise quality assurance surveillance plan.

However, the GAO report said it was too early to assess whether the new contract would resolve the identified issues. The agency did not specifically address the report's findings when reached by media outlets.

The report comes amid broader scrutiny of ICE detention practices. On Thursday, Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller running for Congress, was found not guilty of blocking an elevator during an attempt to inspect detention rooms at a Manhattan ICE facility. Magistrate Judge Henry Ricardo said Lander appeared tired and resigned rather than willfully obstructive when he sat in front of an elevator bank on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza on September 18, 2025.

Lander and 10 other politicians had been arrested after their demands to examine detention rooms amid allegations of overcrowding and squalor were rebuffed. Ricardo found that Lander's testimony about singing the civil rights anthem "we shall not move" was credible and did not constitute a declaration to impede elevators.

In Louisiana, a federal judge found that ICE violated the constitutional rights of Akram Mahmoud Omar, a 77-year-old Palestinian who had lived in the United States for 50 years. On May 29, Judge Brian Jackson ordered Omar's immediate release from Camp 57 at Angola state prison, where the stress of poor conditions had contributed to a heart attack.

Ten days after his release, ICE seized Omar again and attempted to place him on a deportation flight the next morning without advance notice or opportunity for orderly departure. Omar's lawyer Ken Mayeaux filed an emergency motion, and Judge Jackson issued another order on June 8 mandating Omar's immediate release and prohibiting ICE from re-detaining or removing him during the pendency of his case.

Bridget Pranzatelli, an attorney with the National Immigration Project, said such violations are routine. "This level of cruelty and disrespect for federal courts is the rule, not the exception," she stated. ICE spokesperson Angelina Vicknair denied the allegations, saying the agency complies with all court orders and that claims otherwise are categorically false.