Serious medical and mental health emergencies have been routine at the largest US immigration detention facility since it opened last August, according to records obtained by the Associated Press. Data and recordings from more than 100 emergency calls at Camp East Montana, on the Fort Bliss army base in El Paso, Texas, reveal a pattern of overcrowding, medical neglect, malnutrition and emotional distress that critics have described as 'abject cruelty'.
Current and former detainees described living conditions for about 3,000 people in loud and unsanitary quarters, with difficulty obtaining healthcare as disease spread and reported weight loss due to lack of food. Owen Ramsingh, a former property manager from Missouri who spent several weeks there before deportation to the Netherlands in February, said: 'Every day felt like a week. Every week felt like a month. Every month felt like a year. Camp East Montana was 1,000% worse than a prison.'
Staff made nearly one 911 call per day in the first five months of operation, covering 130 calls. In one call, a man sobs after being assaulted; in another, a doctor says a man is banging his head against the wall while expressing suicidal thoughts; in a third, a nurse says a pregnant woman is in severe pain and has coronavirus. Injured detainees ranged from a 19-year-old who fell out of a bunk bed to a 79-year-old struggling to breathe. At least 20 emergencies were reported as seizures, some resulting in serious head trauma. Traumatised detainees repeatedly attempted self-harm.
Two incidents have resulted in death. On 3 January, security guards responded after a 55-year-old Cuban man tried to harm himself and used handcuffs and force to restrain him; a medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by asphyxia. On 14 January, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan man took his own life days after being detained in Minnesota. At least six other suicide attempts were reported. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson denied substandard conditions, saying detainees receive food, water and medical treatment in a regularly cleaned facility, and that staff 'closely monitors at-risk detainees' and provides mental health treatment.
The Texas congresswoman Veronica Escobar, who has toured the camp several times and repeatedly demanded its closure, said: 'This facility should not be operational. It feels like this contractor is reinventing the wheel, and people are losing their lives in their experiment.' She noted that on one visit a female detainee showed her a serving of scrambled eggs still frozen in the middle, and that detainees protested after losing juice, fruit and milk from meals. She also met a detainee with a broken arm that had not been properly set. Escobar has called for an investigation into contractor Acquisition Logistics LLC, which was awarded a contract worth up to $1.3bn.
