A congressional oversight visit, internal government communications, and public health data are drawing renewed scrutiny to federal immigration detention facilities in Texas, where lawmakers, local officials, and medical experts describe unsafe conditions, limited transparency, and outbreaks of infectious disease linked to the Trump administration’s expanding detention system.
U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison conducted an unannounced visit Monday to Camp East Montana, a large federal detention site located outside El Paso that has received detainees transferred from Minnesota following arrests tied to Operation Metro Surge. The complex, built last summer on the grounds of a former World War II detention site for Japanese Americans at Fort Bliss, consists of five tent structures capable of holding up to 5,000 people.
Morrison said conditions inside the facility raised serious concerns about the treatment of detainees and access to care.
“These are unbelievably inhumane conditions,” Morrison said in an interview.
According to Morrison, each tent is divided into windowless rooms where as many as 72 detainees may be held continuously, with individuals allowed outside for only one hour each day. Attorneys, detainees, and journalists have described problems including worms found in food, leaking roofs, and limited access to medical services.
Andrea Pedro-Francisco, who was transferred to the facility after being arrested in Burnsville, Minnesota, reported experiencing prolonged severe pain related to a large ovarian cyst that risked rupture while she remained in detention. Morrison said several Minnesota residents are being held at the site, including a pregnant woman and a diabetic detainee who has not been receiving medication. Morrison said another detainee with diabetes chose to voluntarily depart the United States after being denied access to medication at the facility.
Three detainees died within a six-week period at Camp East Montana, including one man who was suffocated during a struggle with multiple guards.
Camp East Montana was constructed to increase detention capacity as immigration enforcement operations expanded. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently terminated a $1.3 billion contract with Acquisition Logistics, the company operating the facility, which had not previously managed an ICE detention center.
Morrison initially encountered resistance when attempting to inspect the facility because of a measles outbreak linked to the crowded environment, which she said also contributed to the spread of tuberculosis and COVID-19. After waiting more than an hour, Morrison was permitted to enter the site but said she was not allowed to speak with detainees or provide written communication to her constituents.
“They said it was too difficult to get them a note because it would be hard to find them,” Morrison said.
Facility representatives told Morrison approximately 900 individuals were being held there at the time of her visit, though she said she could not independently verify that number. The facility has previously held an average of approximately 3,000 detainees, many without serious criminal histories.
Immigrants housed at Camp East Montana are being detained under the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy, which requires individuals to remain in custody while their immigration cases proceed through the courts, a process that can take years. During that period, detainees are often encouraged to accept voluntary departure from the United States.
Operation Metro Surge, the enforcement effort that resulted in detainees being transferred to Texas facilities, has generated controversy following two American deaths and a federal judge’s finding of “compelling and troubling” evidence of racial profiling. The fallout has contributed to a funding dispute in Washington that has left the Department of Homeland Security in a partial shutdown for 40 days as lawmakers debate policy reforms related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Morrison said the situation demonstrates the need for changes to the agency.
“It’s important that the American people understand that their taxpayer dollars are being used to commit human rights abuses,” Morrison said.
At the same time, public health officials in Texas are responding to measles cases linked to federal detention centers that have reached individuals outside the facilities.
Emails obtained through public records requests show at least four El Paso residents who worked at a federal detention site were infected with measles and visited several public locations including a hospital, department store, two malls, and three restaurants. Records indicate the infected individuals worked at the West Texas Detention Facility in Hudspeth County, where U.S. Marshals Service detainees are held, including immigrants who may later be transferred into ICE custody.
A detainee transferred from the West Texas Detention Facility to Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso on Feb. 7 potentially exposed 18 individuals to measles, according to the records.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 170 measles cases statewide as of March 25. Of those cases, 130 occurred at the West Texas Detention Facility, 15 occurred at Camp East Montana, and two occurred at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, the only ICE detention facility in the country that holds children together with their parents.
Public health experts say detention centers present conditions that allow contagious diseases to spread rapidly because of crowding and frequent movement of people in and out of the facilities.
“You got all these people in close quarters. You got high contact rates, maybe a lot of movement of people in and out. It is very difficult to verify or ensure vaccination status in these populations,” said Phil Huang, vice chair of the state’s public health policy committee and Dallas County’s public health director.
Huang warned that infections inside detention sites can spread beyond facility walls through staff and contractors.
“These infectious diseases don’t respect any boundary,” Huang said.
Local officials reported difficulty obtaining information needed to manage the outbreak, including vaccination status of detainees and details about exposure risks.
“We unfortunately are not able to get the detainee vaccination status,” Brandon Rohrig, El Paso’s deputy public health director, wrote in a March 2 email. “[Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and the facilities hardly know who is in and out of their buildings, they don’t share the names of some people with us, and they don’t allow us to speak with detainees.”
Public health officials also reported that they were unable to conduct contact tracing inside detention sites because federal agencies did not provide sufficient information about detainees or staff interactions.
“As we receive more reports of positive measles cases in congregate settings such as detention facilities, we need to be ready and expect a large number of positive cases in such facilities,” El Paso County health authority Hector Ocaranza wrote in a Feb. 22 email.
Rohrig also expressed concerns about transparency related to population data inside detention centers.
“Further, I don’t believe ICE is being transparent with how many people are actually there and which ones are coming and going,” Rohrig wrote in a Feb. 23 email.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar said limited information sharing has made it difficult for elected officials to assess risks associated with detention operations.
“This administration has done everything possible to prevent congressional oversight,” Escobar said. “All of this doesn’t just put detainees at risk. It puts El Pasoans who work inside of them at risk, and these are El Pasoans who ultimately go back into their homes, into the community.”
Experts note that measles is highly contagious and can spread to as many as 18 unvaccinated individuals through a single exposure. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported kindergarten vaccination rates declined from 97 percent in the 2019-20 school year to 93 percent in the 2024-25 school year.
Flor M. Muñoz of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases said delays in information sharing can increase health risks.
“By definition, when more than 2 measles cases occur in a community where there should be 0 cases, this is an outbreak,” Muñoz said. “Lack of transparency and lack of understanding the urgency of the situation results in delayed care, further spread of disease, poor outbreak control, and unnecessary illness and potential death among the most vulnerable.”
Federal agencies have provided limited detail about vaccination coverage inside detention sites. The Department of Homeland Security has stated that detainees have access to medical care and that quarantine protocols are implemented when infections are identified.
Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said the intersection of increased measles transmission and expanded detention infrastructure presents new challenges for public health systems.
“We have two unprecedented things going on,” Hotez said. “One, measles has returned to America. And second, you got this very odd situation with ICE and detention facilities, so it’s created a whole new dynamic that I don’t know that we have a lot of precedent for.”
The Department of Homeland Security is expected to spend nearly $40 billion to expand detention capacity nationwide to approximately 100,000 beds under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Morrison said the findings from Camp East Montana highlight concerns about how federal funds are being used as detention operations grow.
“It’s important that the American people understand that their taxpayer dollars are being used to commit human rights abuses,” Morrison said.
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