While Congress struggles to find funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the curtains are being pulled back on the horrid conditions U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees suffer at the country’s largest detention center, the Associated Press reports.
Over 100 calls to 9-1-1 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 loud and unsanitary, where detainees struggle to receive sufficient healthcare and are fearful of angry security guards.
After opening in August 2025, data from the City of El Paso showed staff members were making at least one 911 call per day within the detention center’s first five months. During one call, specifically, a man was heard crying in agony after being assaulted by another detainee. A doctor told another 911 operator that a man was banging his head against the wall with thoughts of suicide.
A nurse mentioned a pregnant woman being in severe pain in addition to testing positive for COVID-19. A former property manager from Columbia, Missouri, Owen Ramsingh, spent weeks there prior to being deported to the Netherlands. He said, “Camp East Montana was 1,000% worse than a 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 his mental health took a toll with some of the things he experienced while there. He highlighted how the rooms and showers were often filthy and infested with insects, while detainees were known for stealing others’ food due to hunger, as the portion sizes were inadequate and meals were inedible, leading to fights.
According to Esquire, Ramsingh once overheard security guards taking bets on which detainee would be next to take their own life, adding $500 into a bet pool.
“Holy mother of God, what kind of salary are we paying these animals? This is the kind of shit that went on at Dachau,” he said, referring to the first regular Nazi concentration camp.
“This is the kind of shit that goes on here and now.”
Source: Inside Trump’s ICE Facilities: Overcrowding, Neglect And A System Critics Call Despicable
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