A U.S. government watchdog report published on June 9 detailed a series of systemic problems at Camp East Montana, an immigration detention facility in Texas that opened in August 2025 on the grounds of Fort Bliss. The Government Accountability Office said it found "significant, pervasive issues" with the site's planning and oversight, including missing records, lapses in medical care and what it described as wasteful, rushed contracting that cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
The detention center was constructed using an expedited military contracting process intended to accelerate its completion. Under that fast-track approach, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement awarded the contract to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a small company the GAO report said had no prior experience operating detention facilities.
Planning and operational shortcomings identified by the GAO included failures to produce required documentation after incidents. The report said the facility did not provide use-of-force reports and that evidence in at least one case was "missing or destroyed." Those deficiencies were highlighted in the agency's review of two deaths that occurred in January 2026, one of which was later ruled a homicide and the other a suicide.
In the homicide case, GAO reviewers found that the detention center did not supply use-of-force or death reports to ICE and that evidence was absent or had been destroyed, according to the report. In the suicide, staff placed the individual in a medical holding room rather than in a suicide-resistant cell and left the person unattended for longer than 15 minutes, the report said.
The GAO also documented lapses in medical care. When ICE medical officials visited Camp East Montana in December 2025, they determined the medical contractor was not providing treatment and care to detainees with chronic health conditions. The report noted specifically that none of the detained noncitizens with diabetes or HIV had treatment plans in place.
Beyond documentation and medical care failures, the GAO criticized the speed and structure of contracting that led to the site's construction and operation, saying the expedited process resulted in wasted taxpayer funds running into the tens of millions. The report linked the rushed procurement approach with inadequate oversight and operational gaps.
The report placed these findings in the context of a broader federal effort to detain larger numbers of immigrants. It noted that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to detain record numbers as part of a mass deportation effort, with approximately 57,000 immigrants detained as of early June, according to two sources familiar with the matter. That number was described as an increase from roughly 40,000 when the administration took office in 2025.
ICE and Acquisition Logistics did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the GAO findings. The contract for Camp East Montana was abruptly shifted to Amentum Services Inc in March 2026, the report said.
The GAO's account highlights multiple operational risks at a detention facility built rapidly under a military contracting shortcut and raises questions about contract oversight, healthcare delivery and incident documentation at a site that became part of a broader expansion in detention capacity.