ACLU alleges beatings, sexual abuses happened at Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss
Update: DHS has released the following statement in response to the ACLU's letter and allegations:
"This is fearmongering clickbait. As our brave ICE law enforcement is facing a more than 1150% increase in assaults against them, the ACLU is choosing to smear them with anonymous allegations. Here are the facts: any claim that there are “inhumane” conditions at ICE detention centers are categorically false. No detainees are being beaten or abused. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, access to showers, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members. It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This is the best healthcare that many aliens have received in their entire lives. Meals are certified by dieticians. No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States. Get a grip.
These third country agreements, which ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution, are essential to the safety of our homeland and the American people. If you break our laws and come to our country illegally, you could end up in any number of third countries. President Trump and Secretary Noem are using every tool available to get criminal illegal aliens out of American communities and out of our country. Our message is clear: Criminals are not welcome in the United States. These third country agreements, which ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution, are essential to the safety of our homeland and the American people."
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin
FORT BLISS, Texas (KVIA) -- ACLU of Texas claims that beatings and sexual abuses have happened at Camp East Montana, the migrant tent camp located on Fort Bliss.
Advocates with ACLU of Texas, ACLU of New Mexico, Estrella del Paso, Human Rights Watch, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, and Texas Civil Rights Project sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) calling for an end to immigration detention at the camp.
The letter claims that migrants at Camp East Montana have been subjected to beatings, coercive threats, medical neglect, hunger, and denial of meaningful access to counsel.
"The letter comes just weeks after Rep. Veronica Escobar warned that people detained at Fort Bliss were given foul-tasting drinking water, rotten food, and inadequate healthcare," ACLU of Texas said in a news release Monday.
ACLU of Texas says its team has conducted months of interviews with more than 45 detained people, and has obtained 16 sworn declarations by migrants kept at Camp East Montana.
"Numerous detained people told lawyers that officers have engaged in a widespread and unreasonable pattern and practice of excessive force, including the use of abusive sexual contact by officers when utilizing force," ACLU of Texas stated.
ACLU of Texas detailed on teenaged detainee's experience, who claims he was beaten and lost consciousness. He claims his front tooth broke and that an officer grabbed his private parts. Another migrant claimed officers hit his head and crushed his private parts.
Camp East Montana was constructed on Fort Bliss and first opened in August 2025.
ABC-7 has reached out to ICE for comment on the letter and the allegations made by ACLU of Texas.
