ICE Plans to Close Troubled ‘Tent City’ in Texas
This Aug. 7, 2025, satellite image shows construction of large white tents for a new immigrant detention center at Fort Bliss, a US Army base outside El Paso, Texas. (Planet Labs via AP, File)
A large tent detention complex near El Paso that was intended to serve as a model for a new generation of immigration holding sites could be closing less than a year after it opened.
An internal memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), reviewed by The Washington Post, indicates the agency is preparing to end its contract for Camp East Montana. The facility, located next to Fort Bliss, began operations Aug. 1 under a $1.2 billion agreement scheduled to run through 2027. The memo says ICE is drafting a termination letter, though it does not provide a timeline or a reason for the potential shutdown.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said the facility’s future is still under review. “No decisions have been made,” said Lauren Bis. She added that ICE regularly evaluates detention operations to ensure standards are being met and that facilities undergo inspections and audits.
The $1.2 billion contract for the camp was awarded in July to a Virginia-based contractor that had not previously run a detention facility and had never received a federal contract larger than $16 million.
Camp East Montana was designed as a rapid-build holding site where migrants would stay roughly two weeks before deportation or release. However, ICE records show many detainees have remained for months in large warehouse-style tents divided into crowded sections.
The facility quickly came under scrutiny. According to ICE inspectors, at least 60 violations of federal detention standards were recorded during the first 50 days after it opened while construction was still ongoing. The reported issues included gaps in medical screening, limited access to legal counsel, and weak safety procedures. Civil rights groups also reported that detainees said they were beaten by guards after protesting conditions or refusing meals.
Concerns intensified following three deaths in a two-month span. One of them involved Cuban detainee Geraldo Lunas Campos, who died Jan. 3 after a confrontation with guards. The local medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by compression of the neck and chest. The Department of Homeland Security later said Campos had attempted suicide and resisted staff members trying to intervene.
Two other detainees — from Guatemala and Nicaragua — died in separate incidents in December and January. ICE reports that at least 30 people died in its custody last year, the highest number in roughly two decades.
Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, whose district includes the facility, has called for it to be shut down. “There has been nothing but crisis after crisis inside the walls of this tent city,” she said Wednesday, according to NBC News. Escobar also said the facility has been closed to visitors, including attorneys, this week because of a measles outbreak.
A document reviewed by The Washington Post shows the camp’s population has declined to about 1,500 detainees in recent weeks, roughly half the number held there in January.
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