GAO Report Finds Waste, Deaths, and Lost Firearm at Fort Bliss ICE Facility
7 verified4 unconfirmed
A Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday documented serious problems at Camp East Montana, the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility located on the Fort Bliss Army base in Texas. The GAO found millions of dollars in wasteful spending, unsanitary conditions, inadequate medical care, and two detainee deaths during the facility’s first eight months of operation. The report linked many of the issues to a rushed contract award process that selected a contractor with no prior detention experience. A loaded firearm lost by a security guard in January had not been recovered as of March. The GAO recommended that ICE adopt more flexible contracts and improve oversight, while the Defense Department partially disagreed with the report’s conclusions.
What’s verified
The GAO report found that millions of dollars were wasted on services for an empty facility and for meals not needed when the facility operated below capacity.
The contractor, which had no experience providing detention services, failed to conduct required daily cleaning of dormitories, leading some guards to offer detainees cookies in exchange for cleaning their own spaces.
A detainee died by asphyxiation in January, ruled a homicide; a second detainee died by suicide in January after being left unattended for intervals longer than 15 minutes.
A security guard lost a loaded firearm inside the facility in January; as of March the weapon had not been found.
Detainees with chronic health conditions, including HIV and diabetes, did not receive proper treatment plans.
The Army awarded a contract worth up to $1.2 billion to the inexperienced contractor, and the contract lacked a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan.
ICE switched to a new private contractor in April; the Department of Homeland Security stated the facility is “upgrading” and will have more oversight.
Not yet confirmed
One source names the detainee who died by asphyxiation as Geraldo Lunas Campos and reports that multiple detainees told news outlets guards choked him after he refused to stop asking for medication.
One source states that a detainee with tuberculosis was not isolated and another detainee escaped, based on an internal ICE inspection.
One source reports that 50 people have died in ICE custody since the Trump administration’s second inauguration.
Questions none of the sources answer include: What specific disciplinary actions, if any, have been taken against the former contractor? What is the current status of the criminal investigation into the first death? Why was the loaded firearm never recovered?
Key figures
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Department of Defense (DoD)
Camp East Montana (Fort Bliss, Texas)
Acquisition Logistics LLC (former contractor)
Sources: CBS News, newrepublic.com, reason.com
