Why It Matters
Minnesota Representative Kelly Morrison’s firsthand account of conditions at a Texas immigrant detention facility raises serious concerns about how federal detention policy is affecting Minnesota residents caught up in a major immigration enforcement operation. The visit puts a spotlight on Camp East Montana, the nation’s largest immigrant detention center, where several Minnesota constituents are currently being held following arrests carried out during Operation Metro Surge.
With the federal government planning to spend tens of billions of dollars expanding detention capacity nationwide, questions about oversight, accountability, and basic standards of care are taking on new urgency for lawmakers, advocates, and the communities these detainees left behind.
What Happened
U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison, a Democrat representing Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District in the west and northern Minneapolis suburbs, traveled to El Paso, Texas on Monday for an unannounced oversight visit to Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss. The facility, which sits on the outskirts of El Paso, has become the destination for many immigrants detained in Minnesota during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge enforcement sweep.
Morrison, a licensed OB/GYN physician, described conditions inside the facility as deeply troubling. The camp consists of five large tent structures built on the grounds of a former World War II internment site once used to detain Japanese Americans. Detainees are held in windowless rooms within those tents and are allowed outside for only one hour per day.
“These are unbelievably inhumane conditions,” Morrison said in an interview on Wednesday following her visit.
Reports from detainees, their attorneys, and journalists who have covered the facility paint a picture of deteriorating conditions. Detainees have described finding worms in their food, leaking roofs during rainfall, and an absence of adequate medical care. Three detainees died at the facility over a six-week period, including one man who died after being restrained by multiple guards.
Among those currently held at the camp is Andrea Pedro-Francisco, who was arrested in Burnsville, Minnesota. Pedro-Francisco told the Minnesota Reformer she has been in severe pain for more than a month due to a large ovarian cyst that her attorneys say is at risk of rupturing. Morrison said she is also aware of a pregnant woman and a man with diabetes who is not receiving proper treatment among her constituents held there.
By the Numbers
- 5,000: Maximum detainee capacity at Camp East Montana, making it the largest immigrant detention facility in the United States.
- 72: Maximum number of detainees held together in a single windowless room within the facility’s tent structures.
- 1 hour: Amount of outdoor time detainees are permitted each day.
- $1.3 billion: Value of the federal contract with Acquisition Logistics, the facility’s operating company, which ICE recently terminated due to deteriorating conditions.
- $40 billion / 100,000: Approximate amount the Department of Homeland Security plans to spend expanding national detention capacity to nearly 100,000 beds, funded in part through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- 3: Number of detainee deaths reported at Camp East Montana over a six-week span.
Zoom Out
Camp East Montana is one of several large-scale detention facilities constructed or expanded rapidly during the Trump administration’s aggressive push to increase immigrant detention capacity. The facility’s operator, Acquisition Logistics, had no prior experience running an ICE detention center before being awarded its contract, a fact that drew scrutiny from oversight advocates even before conditions deteriorated.
Minnesota is one of many states affected by Operation Metro Surge, a coordinated federal enforcement operation that resulted in arrests across multiple metropolitan areas. Detained individuals from states far from the southern border have frequently been transferred to facilities in Texas and other states, making in-person legal representation and family contact significantly more difficult.
The broader national push to expand detention capacity to 100,000 beds would represent a historic increase over pre-2025 levels, which hovered around 40,000. Civil liberties organizations have argued the expansion outpaces the government’s ability to maintain adequate standards of care and oversight.
What’s Next
With ICE having already terminated Acquisition Logistics’ $1.3 billion contract, it remains unclear who will assume operation of Camp East Montana and under what conditions. Morrison has indicated she intends to continue pressing for accountability over the use of taxpayer funds at the facility.
“It’s important that the American people understand that their taxpayer dollars are being used to commit human rights abuses,” Morrison said.
Legal advocates representing detainees from Minnesota and other states are expected to continue pursuing medical care and improved conditions through the courts. Congressional oversight efforts, including additional facility visits by lawmakers, are also anticipated as the administration moves forward with its broader detention expansion plan.