U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to keep and most expensive detention facilities open for at least another year despite calls to close it over reported , according to published last week.
ICE plans to extend the no-bid contract of the firm that runs Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, through Sept. 30, 2027, at a potential additional cost to taxpayers of $776 million, the notice says. This is on top of a $452 million initial contract that the firm, Amentum Services Inc., was awarded in March when it was to take over the camp鈥檚 operation from a contractor removed for poor performance.
For months, Democratic members of Congress and several advocacy organizations have called for Camp East Montana to be closed, citing reports that detainees have been routinely mistreated since its opening in August 2025.
A report released earlier this month by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union alleged that staff routinely beat detainees, denied them medical care, made them live in filthy conditions and fed them inedible meals. Reports by federal agencies have also found and that the Army and ICE of dollars paying for unnecessary services. At least three Camp East Montana .
The facility at Fort Bliss, an Army base near the U.S.-Mexico border, has housed an average of more than 2,000 male and female detainees a day since Oct. 1, though its population has declined significantly in recent months, according to ICE data.
鈥淓xtending Amentum鈥檚 contract while ignoring well-documented abuses is reckless and demonstrates the Trump administration鈥檚 full-scale assault on human rights,鈥� said Ang茅lica C茅sar, a fellow at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU who was a lead researcher for the report. 鈥淚nstead of holding private contractors accountable, DHS is choosing to perpetuate a system of harm and abuse.鈥�
Chanel Mann, a spokesperson for Amentum, referred questions to ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, which didn鈥檛 immediately return messages seeking comment.
ICE’s notice was a justification for extending Amentum Services鈥� contract for a year without a competitive bidding process.
The agency argued that relocating detainees to other facilities would be 鈥渋mpracticable鈥� due to a lack of available bed space elsewhere. Transitioning to a different contractor would require replacing Amentum鈥檚 鈥減roprietary infrastructure鈥� and finding new workers, which would lead to duplicative costs, it said.
鈥淎ny lapse in contract coverage would directly threaten the life, safety, and well-being of detainees, severely disrupt law enforcement operations, and expose the government to substantial operational, legal, and humanitarian risks,鈥� the notice says.
ICE’s notice said the Army’s initial contract, awarded to Acquisition Logistics LLC, 鈥渄id not accurately reflect ICE’s operational needs or the actual usage of the facility.鈥� Acquisition Logistics had no prior experience operating detention facilities.
In all, Virginia-based Amentum stands to be paid more than $1.2 billion if it operates the camp from March 2026 through September 2027, the notice says.
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