Immigrant detainees sue over 'horrific' conditions at Texas ICE facility

Four detainees have filed a federal lawsuit alleging human rights abuses, appalling conditions and severe medical neglect at what is now the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centre in the United States. The complaint, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, details systemic mistreatment inside Camp East Montana, a facility comprising hardened tents on the Fort Bliss military base near El Paso. The lawsuit describes routine physical violence by guards, rampant sexual harassment, squalid living conditions, spoiled food, outbreaks of infectious disease and near-total denial of hygiene supplies, sunlight and basic medical attention. It marks the first legal challenge to the site, which immigration advocates have long demanded be closed.

The detainees’ legal team, led by the American Civil Liberties Union, argues that the conditions violate both constitutional protections and international human rights standards. One plaintiff, Gerald Akari Angye, a 34-year-old asylum seeker from Cameroon, states in a sworn declaration that guards beat him so severely he required hospitalisation and now uses a wheelchair. He claims he was then placed in solitary confinement for fifteen days. “No human being should ever have to go through this,” Angye said in a statement issued by the ACLU. “I fled torture in my home country only to face violence here in America.” Another detainee identified only as Navdeep, a former postal worker with no criminal record, describes raw sewage flooding his sleeping area, chronic thirst due to absent drinking cups, and respiratory distress from desert dust. According to the lawsuit, he wore the same clothes—including underwear—for three consecutive weeks.

Medical care at Camp East Montana is described as dangerously inadequate. The complaint alleges that detainees with chronic illnesses such as HIV, diabetes and cancer are routinely denied timely medication, while a recent measles outbreak prompted a temporary visitor suspension in February. Former detainees and advocacy groups have documented repeated pleas for treatment that went unanswered, with detainees reporting that pain medication and insulin were withheld for days. The facility’s remote desert location, surrounded by military fencing, further isolates residents, leaving them without meaningful access to sunlight or outdoor exercise—conditions critics say exacerbate both physical and mental decline.

The plaintiffs are seeking class-action certification, aiming to represent all current and future detainees held at Camp East Montana. Their legal filing follows months of protests by immigrant rights organisations and calls from medical experts who warn that prolonged detention under such conditions amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. The lawsuit places renewed pressure on federal authorities to close the facility permanently and overhaul detention standards nationwide.