Contract for ICE tent facility in El Paso under review, DHS says
The contract for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement tent facility in El Paso, Texas, is under review, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed in a statement.
Camp East Montana, a detention center on the grounds of Fort Bliss, was opened in August by the Trump administration. The facility has faced criticism from immigrant advocates following the deaths of three detainees and a current measles outbreak.
"ICE is always looking at ways to improve our detention facilities to ensure we are providing the best care to illegal aliens in our custody," Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. "The contract for Camp East Montana was inherited from the Department of War. DHS undergoes rigorous audits and inspections of our facilities to ensure they are meeting our high standards."
"DHS is reviewing this facility and contract," Bis added. "No decisions have been made related to contract extension, termination, or award."
Last year, Acquisition Logistics LLC, a Virginia-based company, was awarded $1.2 billion to build the 5,000 bed, short-term detention facility with an estimated date of completion of Sept. 30, 2027, according to a Department of Defense notice.
Acquisition Logistics did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
While DHS has not provided a reason for the review, a current measles outbreak has renewed calls from legal advocates who say detainees are not getting proper medical care.
DHS confirmed to ABC News that there are currently 14 active measles cases at the facility. In a statement, Bis claimed medical staff were quarantining all detainees that may have come into contact with those infected.
"This is the best healthcare than many aliens have received in their entire lives," Bis claimed, contradicting repeated claims of medical neglect and abuse at the facility made by the ACLU in December and by attorneys with clients being detained there.
Crystal Sandoval, an accredited representative with Las Americas Advocacy Center, who attempted to meet with a potential client on Tuesday, says she was denied entry into the facility because of the outbreak. Sandoval says she was the first person who was granted access into the facility in August 2025 and has been sounding the alarm about what she calls widespread medical neglect.
"I've had people be like, 'I want to be deported because I'm not getting my diabetic medication and if I continue like that, I'm going to have a diabetic coma,'" she told ABC News.
Lawmakers have also increasingly called on DHS to provide more transparency about who they’re contracting with it, and to shut down the facility.
"For months, we have sounded the alarm on the horrific conditions at this facility—from the tragic and preventable deaths of three individuals to the current measles outbreak that has put hundreds at risk," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., on Wednesday. "This $1.2 billion contract was awarded to a company with zero experience in detention management, and the results were as predictable as they were disastrous."
