{"id":46650,"date":"2026-02-12T19:14:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=46650"},"modified":"2026-02-12T19:14:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:14:46","slug":"texas-lawmakers-sound-alarm-on-torture-killing-and-inhumane-treatment-of-detainees-in-fort-bliss-ice-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/02\/12\/texas-lawmakers-sound-alarm-on-torture-killing-and-inhumane-treatment-of-detainees-in-fort-bliss-ice-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Lawmakers Sound Alarm on \u2018Torture, Killing, and Inhumane Treatment\u2019 of Detainees in Fort Bliss ICE Facility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"U.S.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eighty migrants from Guatemala are deported to their home country in a United States military plane at the Fort Bliss facility in El Paso, Texas, on January 30, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Christian Torres\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least three inmates have died in the facility in just two months, including one who witnesses say was choked to death by guards.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feb 11, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/trinitymedia.ai\/player\/trinity-player.php?pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Ffort-bliss-inhumane-ice-conditions&contentHash=19d5e353b0a5cedda313a97d56809218ffd47911f94580d8670c2645411805e7&unitId=2900021701&userId=5752cafe-a61d-4177-b146-0c8454dc0ef8&isLegacyBrowser=false&version=20260212_72820bfdaeba9d09196fc4705888fd6e0a6e3211&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=478&isMobile=0&unitType=tts-player&integrationType=web<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of Texas<\/a> legislators have delivered an urgent warning about the treatment of detainees in the country\u2019s largest immigration<\/a> detention camp, which sits on an Army base in El Paso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have received numerous credible reports of torture<\/a>, killing, and inhumane treatment of detained individuals at the Camp East Montana migrant detention facility, located within Fort Bliss,\u201d said<\/a> Rep. Ana-Mar\u00eda Rodr\u00edguez Ramos (D-102), who joined 35 other Democrats in the Texas<\/a> state House on Tuesday to demand an investigation into the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"DHS<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Investigation Demanded as ICE Reports Third Death at Texas Detention Center in 44 Days<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Sign<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Fucking Insane\u2019: Journalist Finds at Least 2,300 Illegal ICE Detentions Since July<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Camp East Montana was constructed in August as part of the Trump administration\u2019s effort to ramp up Immigration<\/a> and Customs Enforcement\u2019s (ICE) \u201cmass deportation\u201d of immigrants. The selection of Fort Bliss has historical precedent, having previously been used as a site for the internment<\/a> of Japanese people during World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a secretive contract undisclosed to the public, the\u00a0Pentagon<\/a>\u00a0awarded<\/a>\u00a0roughly $1.2 billion to a private contractor in July to construct a sprawling tent city to hold around 5,000 people rounded up by ICE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X post: https:\/\/x.com\/Ramos4Texas\/status\/2021294541693911121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2021294541693911121%7Ctwgr%5E54aec20c3de9939a0241f68948ba83224c056745%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Ffort-bliss-inhumane-ice-conditions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlmost immediately upon its opening, detainees, their families, and legal watchdog organizations began bringing attention to conditions that were deemed unsuitable for detainees, even by internal standards set by Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a>,\u201d the legislators wrote in a letter to state Rep. Cole Hefner (R-5), who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety, and Veterans<\/a> Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the camp\u2019s first 50 days of operation, ICE inspections revealed<\/a> that it had violated more than 60 federal detention standards. The report, compiled in September, was not released to the public, but was reported on by the Washington Post<\/a>, <\/em>which spoke with dozens of detainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn ICE\u2019s webpage titled \u2018Detention Management,\u2019 it states that \u2018detention is non-punitive,\u2019\u201d the legislators wrote Tuesday. \u201cYet, according to reporting by the Washington<\/a> Post<\/em> based on sworn statements from dozens of detainees, the facility, for months, was being run like a prison in a country without standards for oversight, health, or safety for the inmates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were complaints that the toilets and sinks didn\u2019t work for the first few weeks after the facility\u2019s opening last August. There were complaints logged that, for the first few weeks, the facility didn\u2019t adequately feed detainees. They also complained about another violation of ICE standards: the lack of access to telephones for detainees to communicate with family and legal representation,\u201d they continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this week, US Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), who visited the facility unannounced on Friday, disclosed<\/a> that at least two cases of tuberculosis and 18 cases of Covid-19<\/a> had been identified at the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the private corporation continues to pocket our tax dollars, it\u2019s clear the conditions are only getting worse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/i\/status\/2019845375075709074\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The state lawmakers also cited a letter<\/a> sent by the ACLU, Human Rights<\/a> Watch, and several other civil rights<\/a> groups in December addressing \u201ccases of illegal, extrajudicial attempts to deport detainees to Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One inmate, a Cuban immigrant identified as \u201cBenjamin,\u201d said he was threatened by guards who attempted to make him sign a letter agreeing to be deported to Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe guards told him that if he did not, they would handcuff him, put a bag over his head, and send him to Mexico. Benjamin refused to sign the document, stating that he was scared to go to Mexico, because he had heard that migrants<\/a> are often kidnapped, robbed, or killed there,\u201d the ACLU letter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter also provided several examples of inmates being subject to physical and sexual assault<\/a> at the hands of officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople detained at Fort Bliss report that officers have crushed detainees\u2019 testicles with their fingers, slammed detained people to the ground, stomped on detained people and punched their faces, and beaten detained people even after they are cuffed and restrained,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislators also noted that three detainees have died in the facility in just two months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 3, 48-year-old Guatemalan inmate Francisco Gaspar-Andr\u00e9s was reported to have died of natural causes, namely liver and kidney failure, according to an ICE press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, two other inmates have died. On January 14, 36-year-old Victor Manuel Diaz was found dead<\/a> of an apparent suicide, though the cause of death remains under investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to that, the Department of Homeland Security reported<\/a> that the death of another inmate, 55-year-old Geraldo Lunas Campos from Cuba<\/a>, on January 3, was also a suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, witnesses have said they saw guards choking Lunas Campos and that he was heard saying, \u201cI can\u2019t breathe.\u201d His death has since been ruled<\/a> a homicide after an autopsy revealed the cause of death to have been \u201casphyxia due to neck and torso compression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter notes that while Lunas Campos was \u201cconvicted of heinous crimes,\u201d including sexual contact with an 11-year-old, \u201che was not sentenced to death by a judge or jury\u2014he was killed by someone responsible for his care, for unknown reasons or circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is our responsibility as Texas legislators to ensure that we can trust that jails, prisons<\/a>, and detention facilities in Texas operate to our high standards and expectations,\u201d the lawmakers said. \u201cWe must learn more, investigate, and provide answers to the millions of Americans demanding the truth. We must also ensure this does not happen again in any federal detention facility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The call for an investigation comes as DHS plans<\/a> to rapidly convert at least around two dozen warehouses into massive new detention centers across the country. At least three of these locations are planned for Texas. One of them, planned<\/a> for the town of Hutchins outside Dallas, is expected to hold around 9,500 inmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislators said: \u201cHuman rights abuses, ignoring due process requirements, repeated violation of federal regulations, clear disrespect for the\u00a0United States<\/a>\u00a0Constitution, and murder are unconscionable on any inch of American soil\u2014but these crimes against real people are happening in Texas, and require proud Texans to stand up in defense of our Constitution and use our power to end this widespread abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eighty migrants from Guatemala are deported to their home country in a United States military plane at the Fort Bliss facility in El Paso, Texas, on January 30, 2025. \u00a0(Photo by Christian Torres\/Anadolu via Getty Images) At least three inmates have died in the facility in just two months, including… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46650"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46651,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46650\/revisions\/46651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}