ICE Activity in El Paso / West Texas

1. Camp East Montana (Fort Bliss) — Nation’s Largest ICE Detention Facility

Camp East Montana, a soft-sided tent structure on the Fort Bliss military installation, holds an average of 2,954 detainees per day, making it the largest ICE detention facility in the United States.¹ The facility operates under a $1.2 billion contract with Acquisition Logistics and Technology (ALT), a company with no prior detention experience.⁴

Homicide of Geraldo Lunas Campos (January 3, 2026)

Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban man, died in custody on January 3, 2026. DHS initially claimed the death was a suicide. On January 21, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide, finding the cause to be asphyxia due to compression of the neck and torso.¹

A witness account reported that five guards held Lunas Campos down while one squeezed his neck. The autopsy documented abrasions, hemorrhage in the neck, and petechial hemorrhaging—physical findings inconsistent with self-inflicted injury.²

Lunas Campos was the third person to die at Camp East Montana.

Measles Outbreak

On February 26, public health officials confirmed 17 measles cases, with 13 occurring at Camp East Montana.³ By March 3, the count had reached 14 confirmed cases with 112 individuals in isolation. The facility had previously documented two tuberculosis cases and a COVID outbreak in January.³

911 Calls Reveal Conditions (March 6–7)

911 call records from March 6–7 documented attempted suicides, fights, and medical distress inside Camp East Montana. Detainees reported weight loss and food shortages. The facility relies on a private security force rather than federal staff.⁵

Possible Closure (March 4)

On March 4, the Texas Tribune reported that ICE is drafting a termination of the $1.2 billion contract with ALT, potentially closing Camp East Montana.⁴

2. Construction-Site Raids

Between January 10 and 19, ICE conducted a nine-day enforcement operation targeting construction sites across the El Paso region. A total of 38 workers were arrested at three sites in El Paso and Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Videos of the raids circulated widely on social media.⁶

The construction industry in the region experienced an estimated 30–40% drop in activity in the weeks following the raids, as workers stayed home out of fear of further enforcement actions.⁶

3. $123M Mega-Facility Near Clint

On January 17, DHS purchased warehouses in far East El Paso County for a planned 8,500-capacity detention facility. The $123 million purchase includes three 296,000-square-foot concrete warehouses near Clint, Texas.⁷

The facility is part of the administration’s $38 billion national detention expansion plan, which envisions converting industrial warehouses into immigration detention centers across the country.⁸

El Paso City Council moved to reject the facility on February 2, and the city of Socorro has also moved to block it.¹⁴

4. National Shutdown Protests (January 30)

Hundreds of El Paso residents participated in the January 30 National Shutdown, a coordinated day of action against federal immigration enforcement. Student walkouts occurred at Eastwood High School and Bel Air High School, among others.⁹

The protests were triggered in part by the shooting of Renee Nicole Good on January 7 in Minneapolis by ICE agents. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) threatened penalties against districts where students walked out.⁹

5. City & County Cooperation with ICE

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPCSO) adopted the Jail Enforcement Model under SB 8—the least aggressive of the three compliance options available to Texas sheriffs. This model limits cooperation to processing individuals already in county custody.¹⁰

El Paso City Council has taken several steps to push back against federal enforcement expansion:

January 29: Considered a ban on new detention centers within city limits
February 2: Moved to reject the planned $123M detention facility near Clint¹⁴
Voted to hold ICE accountable for conditions at Camp East Montana

6. Federal Court Backlog

The Western District of Texas (El Paso Division) is experiencing an unprecedented surge in habeas corpus petitions from ICE detainees. Between 2021 and 2024, El Paso federal judges averaged 26 habeas petitions per year. In 2025, that number jumped to 300.¹¹

At the pace set in January 2026, filings would reach 2,800 per year. Habeas corpus cases now represent 75% of all new civil filings in the division. The court has only two full-time judges handling over 1,300 petitions already filed.¹²

7. Cross-Border & Port of Entry Developments

The Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) modernization plan includes a permanent ban on commercial truck traffic at the crossing. A new Santa Teresa connector highway is intended to reroute commercial traffic through southern New Mexico.¹²

On March 24, El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz led a march to the border, calling federal enforcement a “war on the poor.”¹³ Twenty border bishops had previously issued a joint statement on February 24 condemning the administration’s enforcement posture.¹³