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GAO finds ICE wasted up to $11.5M and endangered detainees in rushed Camp East Montana launch

On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report (GAO-26-108886) finding that ICE rushed the opening of Camp East Montana, the nation's largest immigration detention facility and a tent camp at the Army's Fort Bliss base in El Paso, wasting up to $11.5 million during its first two weeks in August 2025 while the camp sat empty. The watchdog found ICE awarded a roughly $1.3 billion operating contract to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a firm with no detention experience, and documented unsafe conditions including a contract guard's loss of a loaded firearm that was never recovered and the contractor's failure to provide required use-of-force and death reports. ICE terminated the Acquisition Logistics contract in March after three detainee deaths, a measles outbreak, and mounting human-rights allegations.

Part of: 2025–2026 ICE Detainee Death Surge, Trump Administration No-Bid and Irregular Contracts

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
El Paso, Texas

Abuses documented

Actors

On June 9, 2026, the Government Accountability Office released a report (GAO-26-108886) finding that ICE rushed the opening of Camp East Montana — the nation's largest immigration detention facility, a tent camp at the Army's Fort Bliss base in El Paso — wasting up to $11.5 million during its first two weeks in August 2025 while the camp sat empty. ICE had awarded a roughly $1.3 billion operating contract to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a firm with no detention experience.

The watchdog documented unsafe conditions including a contract guard's loss of a loaded firearm that was never recovered and the contractor's failure to provide required use-of-force and death reports. ICE terminated the Acquisition Logistics contract in March after three detainee deaths, a measles outbreak, and mounting human-rights allegations.

When the government detains people it owes the public two duties at once: to spend taxpayer money honestly and to keep those in its custody safe. A formal oversight finding that ICE rushed the facility open without a basic pre-occupancy inspection, paid millions for an empty camp, and steered a $1.3 billion contract to an inexperienced company — amid detainee deaths and a lost loaded firearm — documents how administrative shortcuts become public harms at the nation's largest immigration detention center.

Why we recorded this

When the government detains people, it owes the public two duties at once: to spend taxpayer money honestly and to keep those in its custody safe. An independent congressional watchdog found that ICE failed both at Camp East Montana, rushing the facility open without a basic pre-occupancy inspection, paying millions for an empty camp, and steering a roughly $1.3 billion operating contract to a company with no detention experience. Competitive-procurement rules exist so public money follows need rather than haste or favor; custodial-safety obligations exist because the state is wholly responsible for people it confines. A formal oversight finding that both broke down at the nation's largest immigration detention center, amid detainee deaths and a loaded firearm lost inside the camp and never recovered, documents how administrative shortcuts become public harms.

Sources

  1. Government watchdog says Texas detention center wasted up to $11.5 million before detainees arrived — The Texas Tribune primary accessed June 10, 2026
  2. 'Millions of dollars in waste:' Federal report shows failures at ICE Camp East Montana — El Paso Matters primary accessed June 10, 2026
  3. Immigration Detention: Waste and Performance Issues at Camp East Montana Provide Valuable Lessons for Future Facilities (GAO-26-108886) — U.S. Government Accountability Office secondary accessed June 10, 2026
  4. Largest ICE detention facility wasted millions and put detainees at risk, report finds — Associated Press (via Anchorage Daily News) secondary accessed June 10, 2026

See also