ACLU alleges beatings, sexual abuses happened at Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss

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.