The Horrors Committed at ICE Facilities Are Worse Than You Can Imagine

"Data and recordings from more than a hundred 911 calls at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, along with interviews and court filings, offer a disturbing portrait of overcrowding, medical neglect, malnutrition, and emotional distress. Current and former detainees describe a camp where about 3,000 people have lived per day in loud and unsanitary quarters. They say detainees struggle to obtain health care as disease spreads, lose weight because of a lack of food, and fear security guards known to use force to put down disturbances."

"After its opening in mid-August, staff at the camp made nearly one 911 call per day in its first five months of operation, according to data covering 130 calls from the City of El Paso obtained by the AP. In one call, a man is heard sobbing after being assaulted by another detainee. In another, a doctor says a man is banging his head against the wall while expressing suicidal thoughts. In a third, a nurse says a pregnant woman is in severe pain and has coronavirus."

"Like other detainees, [Owen Ramsingh, a former property manager in Columbia, Missouri, who spent several weeks in the camp before his deportation in February to the Netherlands] said that between cleanings the rooms, restrooms and showers were often filthy and infested with insects. He said detainees stole others' food because everyone was hung"

Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas operates as an ICE detention facility housing approximately 3,000 people daily in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions. Analysis of over 130 emergency 911 calls made during the facility's first five months reveals widespread medical neglect, disease spread, inadequate food provisions, and use of force by security personnel. Detainees report difficulty accessing healthcare, weight loss from insufficient nutrition, and unsafe living quarters with pest infestations. Emergency calls document assaults, suicidal ideation, seizures, head trauma, and pregnant women in distress. Conditions deteriorated further during the second presidential term, with detainees describing filthy facilities between cleanings and food scarcity.

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