Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss began full operation as a sprawling tent detention facility near the US-Mexico border in El Paso. The site currently holds about 1,000 beds for men and plans expansion to 5,000 beds under roughly $1.24bn in private contracts. An integrated operation for deportation flights positions the complex as a deportation hub aligned with the Trump administration's anti-immigration agenda. Democratic lawmakers and legal advocates have demanded closure, citing lack of external oversight, limited access to legal services, strain on local resources, and humanitarian risks from extreme heat and sandstorms. Critics call the facility a misuse of military land and taxpayer funds.
Camp East Montana began full operation last weekend as a sprawling tent facility across acres of military land in the eastern part of El Paso, on the US-Mexico border in west Texas, amid rapid expansion plans and much controversy. Dubbed the Lone Star Lockup by Republicans, the new facility currently accommodates around 1,000 beds for men. It is set to expand to 5,000 beds at a cost of around $1.24bn in private contracts, making it the largest among the ranks of immigration detention facilities already working overtime across the US.
With an integrated operation to run deportation flights, the Texas military complex is set to transform part of itself into the deportation hub it was forecast to become for Donald Trump's hard-right anti-immigration agenda. After a brief tour of the site on Thursday, Texas Democratic congresswoman Jasmine Crockett said: What I saw today was a dangerous misuse of military land and resources to cage human beings. This attempt doesn't make our country safer, it wastes taxpayer dollars, rips families apart, and takes us backwards as a nation. El Paso Democratic congresswoman Veronica Escobar called the new camp massive and decried the $1.2bn price tag when such a sum could elevate public services in a city like El Paso. She told local media it would be a strain on the city's resources.
With the thermometer relentlessly in the 90s Fahrenheit or higher in the summer, and sandstorms a regular occurrence, it is unclear how conditions for detainees will be managed. We demand the immediate closure of Camp East Montana, said Samantha Singleton, policy director of the Border Network for Human Rights. She said: The opening of the country's largest Ice detention site has been treated like a ribbon-cutting ceremony by
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