In 2026, ICE detention fatalities are occurring at an unprecedented rate. The United States’ largest immigration detention facility — a vast tent encampment situated on a Texas Army base — has recorded three deaths, 49 regulatory breaches, and allegations of guards placing bets on which detainee would perish next.
Summary
- In 2026, fatalities in ICE custody have reached an all-time high, with 25 deaths reported since October — three of these occurring at Camp East Montana, the largest immigration detention center in the U.S.
- Federal inspectors visiting the El Paso facility in February uncovered 49 breaches of detention guidelines, including failures to document suicide prevention checks and substandard medical provision.
- Acquisition Logistics LLC, a private firm with no prior experience in managing detention centers, initially operated the facility under a $1.3 billion federal contract, and declined to address NPR’s inquiries regarding conditions or its operational performance.
The year 2026 has seen ICE detention deaths accelerate to an unprecedented level. The largest immigration detention facility in the U.S. — a sprawling tent complex on a Texas Army base — has logged three fatalities, 49 regulatory violations, and claims that guards placed bets on detainees’ impending deaths. Camp East Montana, situated at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, commenced operations in August 2025. It currently accommodates approximately 3,000 immigrants, with room for an additional 2,000. An NPR investigation from April 3 identifies it as both the nation’s biggest and one of its most lethal detention sites.
Among the 25 individuals who have died in ICE custody since October, three were detainees at Camp East Montana. The initial death involved Francisco Gaspar-Andres, a Guatemalan citizen, who succumbed to kidney failure in December following a two-week hospitalization. The subsequent month saw the death of Geraldo Luna Campos, a Cuban national, while in detention, with DHS initially attributing it to “medical distress.” The third fatality, on January 14, was Victor Manuel Diaz, a Nicaraguan national, whose death DHS classified as suicide; however, his family challenges this account. “When we spoke with Victor after his detention by ICE in Minnesota and transfer to Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso, we had no concerns, believing Victor would simply be repatriated to us in Nicaragua,” the family conveyed in an NPR statement. “We had no idea that would be our final conversation with him.”
During February, ICE inspectors recorded 49 breaches of federal detention mandates at the facility — these included insufficient medical provision and staff’s inability to “accurately record mandated checks designed to avert substantial self-harm and suicide.”
Issues with Private Contractors
Acquisition Logistics LLC — a firm with no previous experience operating detention centers — was awarded a $1.3 billion federal contract for managing Camp East Montana. The company declined to answer NPR’s inquiries regarding the conditions of detainees or its facility management. DHS stated it inherited this contract from the Department of War. The Department of Homeland Security, which is currently being prepared to acquire and cross-reference confidential voter data via its SAVE system, also supervises ICE. The 49 violations at Camp East Montana directly challenge DHS’s operational capability to simultaneously handle its growing responsibilities for data management and human oversight.
Owen Ramsingh, a former detainee who was deported in March and spoke from the Netherlands, informed NPR that he personally observed guards wagering on which detainee would commit suicide. He stated, “It’s incredibly messed up that you’re betting on our lives, you know, with these other officers finding this whole situation humorous.”
Lack of Transparency and Its Repercussions
In a December letter to ICE, the ACLU reported that over 45 individuals interviewed at Camp East Montana detailed “alarming conditions of confinement and repeated instances of coercion, physical force, and threats.” DHS countered this by stating that “staff adheres to stringent prevention and intervention protocols” when indicators of self-harm are observed.
The disparity between that assertion and the 49 violations documented by federal inspectors in February exemplifies the institutional opaqueness that critics contend becomes pervasive when government bodies — and their authorized private contractors — function without substantial accountability for managing personal data and human custody. Despite the unprecedented death rate at Camp East Montana, no public disciplinary measures have been taken against Acquisition Logistics or the facility’s current administrators.