A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Tuesday exposed severe mismanagement at the Camp East Montana ICE facility in Texas, highlighting wasted taxpayer dollars and unsafe conditions for detainees. The facility, located at Fort Bliss in El Paso, has been the site of three detainee deaths in just over six months.
Financial Mismanagement
The report reveals that the Army and ICE wasted $11.5 million on guards, medical services, transportation, and meals in the weeks before the facility housed any detainees. Additionally, millions more were squandered due to a contract that required payment for meals for the camp's maximum population of 5,000, even when detainees numbered as low as 1,600.
The agencies wasted millions more because it was contracted to pay the cost of meals for the camp’s maximum population of 5,000, even when the number of detainees there dropped to around 1,600.
Unsafe Conditions
Camp East Montana failed to meet ICE detention standards when it opened in August. The facility lacked necessary security cameras and had surveillance blind spots, increasing the risk of safety breaches. Inadequate screening for tuberculosis led to an outbreak among detainees, and a lost firearm within the facility remains unrecovered.
Contractor Issues
The contract for Camp East Montana was awarded to Acquisition Logistics, a small contractor with no prior experience operating detention facilities. This choice was made under pressure to quickly increase detention capacity, leading to significant operational challenges and a steep learning curve for the contractor.
ICE has since replaced the contractor, and the Department of Homeland Security claims the new contractor will maintain higher detention standards and improve medical care on-site. However, the GAO's findings raise serious concerns about the facility's management and the broader implications of ICE's rapid expansion efforts.