ICE denies claims of abuse at Fort Bliss detention center

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in a Thursday statement to WORLD, categorically denied accusations that systemic abuses were occurring at the agency’s largest detention facility. Advocates for loosening immigration enforcement in the United States have repeatedly criticized ICE over the management of Camp East Montana, which is located on the grounds of Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas. But ICE told WORLD that all detainees at the facility had access to medical care, dietitian-approved meals, and the ability to contact lawyers and family members. Outside auditors were also overseeing ICE’s management of all its facilities, it added.

What do the latest criticisms allege? The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch on Wednesday released a report claiming that detainees were deprived of access to medical care, kept from contacting their family members and lawyers, and subjected to indiscriminate beatings. The report—supposedly based on detainees’ testimony—accused ICE of penning inmates into overcrowded cells that guards routinely entered to beat inmates at random. The report also said their bathrooms were flooded with feces and that they lacked access to soap, sanitizer, or hygiene supplies.

Dig deeper: Read Addie Offeriens’ report in WORLD Magazine about what detention was like for one man ICE held at Alligator Alcatraz in Florida.