The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Wednesday released a report finding severe violations at Camp East Montana, a 5,000-bed immigration detention facility located on an Army base in El Paso, Texas, that has been at the center of controversy since it opened last year. The report documented that the facility’s former operator, Acquisition Logistics LLC, wasted millions of taxpayer dollars by billing for meals and operations at full capacity even when the detainee population was significantly lower, and that the contractor failed to provide required reports on use-of-force incidents and deaths.
The report also found that evidence associated with the death of a detainee was “missing or destroyed,” according to the GAO. At least three detainees have died while in custody at Camp East Montana. The death of detainee Geraldo Lunas Campos was ruled a homicide by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office. The report determined that the contractor did not provide use-of-force and death reports to ICE as required by its contract. Acquisition Logistics LLC did not respond to a request for comment from NPR. Chris Benoit, an attorney representing the Lunas Campos family, also declined to comment.
Camp East Montana opened in August 2025 and was hastily constructed to provide detention space for President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Acquisition Logistics, a small contractor with no prior experience in immigration detention, was awarded a $1.3 billion contract to operate the facility.
The facility has faced persistent scrutiny since its opening. As MSI previously reported, a February 2026 ICE inspection found 49 violations of detention standards, including failures to accurately document checks intended to prevent self-harm and suicide. In ACLU documentation from December 2025, 45 detainees described “repeated instances of coercion” and physical force. In March, four detainees sued, alleging “severe medical neglect.”
In March 2026, the Department of Homeland Security replaced Acquisition Logistics’ contract. A new, $453 million contract was awarded to Amentum Services, a company that had been serving as a subcontractor for Acquisition Logistics at the same facility. In a statement to NPR, DHS said, “This new contractor will allow Camp East Montana to continue abiding by the highest detention standards WITH the ability to provide MORE medical care on-site.” The agency also said the new contract allows for more on-site staff and a precise quality assurance surveillance plan.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who requested the GAO report alongside other lawmakers, called it “damning.” “We now know even more details of how dangerous and irresponsible the Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign truly is,” Durbin said in a news release. “Excessive use of force, lacking medical and mental health care, and wasted taxpayer dollars are emblematic of this mass deportation scheme.”
Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, who has visited the facility, called for it to be shut down, for the contractor to be investigated, and for the destruction of evidence to be referred to law enforcement. “Republicans should work with us to redirect these funds to meet the needs of hardworking Americans,” Escobar said in a news release.
DHS pushed back against the idea of closing the facility. “Far from closing, Camp East Montana is upgrading,” the agency said in a statement to NPR.