ICE Extends No-Bid Texas Detention Contract Amid Abuse Claim

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has extended its no-bid contract for Camp East Montana, one of the largest and most controversial immigrant detention facilities in the country, through September 2027 at a potential additional cost of $776 million to taxpayers. The decision rebuffs mounting calls from activists, lawmakers, and government watchdogs to close the facility over documented human rights abuses, deaths, and financial mismanagement.

The contract extension for Amentum Services Inc., published last week on the federal government’s procurement website, brings the total value of the company’s involvement at the facility to more than $1.2 billion since it took over operations in March 2026. According to AP News, the no-bid renewal was issued without a competitive bidding process, a decision that has drawn sharp criticism from transparency advocates.

A Facility Built on Controversy

Camp East Montana, located on the Fort Bliss military base near El Paso, Texas, opened in August 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s accelerated immigration enforcement agenda. The facility consists of five soft-sided tents, each housing up to 72 male and female detainees in penned enclosures. Its capacity of up to 5,000 detainees makes it one of the largest ICE detention centers in the United States.

Since opening, the facility has averaged more than 2,000 detainees per day, according to ICE data, though its population has declined in recent months. The original $1.3 billion contract to operate the facility was awarded to Acquisition Logistics LLC — a company with no prior experience running detention centers. After a series of failures, including 49 violations of national detention standards found by ICE inspectors in February 2026, Acquisition Logistics was removed and replaced by Amentum, which had been serving as a subcontractor.

A Pattern of Abuse and Neglect

The decision to extend Amentum’s contract comes despite multiple investigations documenting severe problems at the facility. In June 2026, the Government Accountability Office released a report that found millions of dollars had been wasted on unnecessary services and that evidence related to a detainee death had been destroyed or lost. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who requested the GAO report, called the findings “damning.” NPR reported that the GAO investigation uncovered a pattern of financial waste and endangerment of detainees.

At least three detainees have died at Camp East Montana. Gerardo Lunas Campos died on January 3, 2026, in a death that was ruled a homicide. Witnesses reported that guards asphyxiated him while he was in solitary confinement after he requested medication. The ACLU and Human Rights Watch have documented the case extensively.

A comprehensive 84-page report released on July 15, 2026, by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, titled “You’re Only Getting Out Deported or Dead,” documented beatings by staff, medical neglect, filthy living conditions, inedible meals, coercive deportations, and what researchers described as enforced disappearance. The report was based on interviews with 80 individuals, including 71 current detainees. According to the ACLU’s press release, researchers documented systemic abuses that amount to a “human rights disaster.”

“Extending Amentum’s contract while ignoring well-documented abuses is reckless and demonstrates the Trump administration’s full-scale assault on human rights,” said Angélica César, a fellow at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU who was a lead researcher for the report. “Instead of holding private contractors accountable, DHS is choosing to perpetuate a system of harm and abuse.”

Contractor with a Troubled Record

Amentum Services Inc., headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, employs more than 50,000 people across 70 countries and primarily works as a Department of Defense contractor. However, it had no prior experience operating civilian detention facilities before taking over Camp East Montana. Investigative reporting by Scripps News revealed that Amentum has accumulated 112 federal regulatory violations, including a fatal workplace accident in 2024 and an OSHA citation for toxic vapor exposure at CIA headquarters in 2023.

Douglas Pasternak, research director at Public Citizen, told Scripps News: “Amentum couldn’t even protect the safety and health of federal workers and now they’re going to be charged with protecting the safety and health of thousands of immigrant detainees.”

ICE Defends the Extension

ICE argued in its procurement notice that the no-bid extension was necessary because relocating detainees to other facilities would be “impracticable” due to a nationwide shortage of available bed space. The agency also claimed that transitioning to a different contractor would require replacing Amentum’s “proprietary infrastructure” and hiring new workers, leading to duplicative costs.

“Any 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,” the notice stated.

The Department of Homeland Security has defended the facility’s operations, stating that the new contractor would allow Camp East Montana to “continue abiding by the highest detention standards with the ability to provide more medical care on-site.”

Broader Implications

The extension of Camp East Montana’s contract takes place against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on immigration. Reports from the same week indicate that children have been separated from their parents as ICE arrests surge across the country. The facility has also recently been placed under a chickenpox quarantine.

Critics argue that the no-bid nature of the contract, combined with the contractor’s record and the facility’s documented abuses, represents a failure of oversight and accountability. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), whose district includes El Paso, has called for the facility’s closure and an investigation into the contractors. A lawsuit filed by four detainees in May 2026 is currently proceeding through the courts.

What’s Next

With the contract now extended through September 2027, Camp East Montana will continue operating for at least another year, barring legislative or judicial intervention. Democrats in Congress have signaled they will continue to push for closure and oversight hearings. The GAO report and the HRW/ACLU findings have added significant weight to those calls, though the Trump administration has shown no signs of reversing course.

Meanwhile, government watchdog groups, including Public Citizen, continue to document what they describe as a pattern of waste and abuse in the federal government’s expedited detention contracting. Their report, “Billion Dollar Collapse,” details systemic failures in how the government awards and oversees detention contracts.

For the detainees at Camp East Montana, the contract extension means continued uncertainty in a facility that researchers and federal investigators alike have described as unsafe. Whether the renewed scrutiny from Congress, the courts, and the press will lead to meaningful reform remains an open question.