by Sharelle B. McNair
March 31, 2026
There have been several reports of inhumane conditions for detainees, including one in which an ICE inspection found conditions at the facility violated about 60 federal standards for immigrant detention. However, this report was never published.
As Congress struggles to find funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the curtain is being pulled back on the horrific conditions suffered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees at the nation’s largest detention center, the Associated Press reports.
More than 100 9-1-1 calls and data from Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, paint a disturbing picture of overcrowding, medical neglect, malnutrition and emotional distress for the thousands of detainees waiting to learn their fate amid the Trump administration’s anti-immigration war.
With more than 3,000 people living there, Camp East Montana is described as noisy and unsanitary, where inmates struggle to receive adequate health care and fear angry security forces.
After opening in August 2025, data from the city of El Paso showed that staff members made at least one emergency call per day in the detention center’s first five months. During one call, a man was heard crying in pain after being attacked by another inmate. A doctor told another 911 operator that a suicidal man hit his head against the wall.
A nurse mentioned that a pregnant woman was in severe pain and had tested positive for COVID-19. A former property manager from Columbia, Missouri, Owen Ramsingh, spent weeks there before being deported to the Netherlands. He said, “Camp East Montana was 1,000% worse than prison.”
“Every day felt like a week. Every week felt like a month. Every month felt like a year,” Ramsingh said.
The former Missouri native said some of the things he experienced there took a toll on his mental health. He stressed that rooms and showers were often dirty and insect-infested, and that prisoners were known to steal other people’s food out of hunger because portion sizes were inadequate and meals were inedible, leading to fights.
According to Esquire, Ramsingh once overheard security guards placing bets on which inmate would take their own life next, so he added $500 to the betting pool.
“Holy Mother of God, what kind of salary are we paying these animals? This is the kind of shit that happened at Dachau,” he said, referring to the first regular Nazi concentration camp.
“This is the kind of shit that happens here and now.”
The feeling of having committed suicide has unsettled Camp East Montana. According to ICE, security forces responded on January 3 after a 55-year-old Cuban man attempted to harm himself and later restrained him with handcuffs and force. But a coroner ruled his death a homicide caused by asphyxia. Days later, on January 14, employees reported that a 36-year-old man from Nicaragua died by suicide just days after being arrested while working in Minnesota.
But these are not the only ones. At least six other suicide attempts were reported.
There have been several reports about the inhumane conditions detainees have faced and continue to face, including one in which an ICE inspection found that conditions at the facility violated about 60 federal standards for immigrant detention.
However, this report was never published.
Might have something to do with a DHS spokesperson claiming the report was false, without any context as to how or why. Even Democratic U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, who represents the city of El Paso, has visited the city and called for its closure.
“This facility should not be operating. It feels like this contractor is reinventing the wheel and people are losing their lives in their experiment,” she said.
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