EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, made a second visit to Camp East Montana – the migrant detention center that opened last month at Fort Bliss – and said she is more adamant than ever that the facility should not have been built.
She said her and her team talked to dozens of detainees when they visited on Thursday, Aug. 28.
Among her takeaways: There are not enough federal personnel on-site for strong oversight of the facility.
She also said that most of the detainees were immigrants who have been in the country for decades, were productive and working.
She posted her observations in a thread on X.
“Immigrants being rounded up and deported are part of our national economy and they deserve a shot at legal pathways, like those in my bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill, the Dignity Act of 2025,” Escobar said.
President Trump’s mass deportation effort “hurts our national economy and is costing American taxpayers $170 billion,” she added.
“There has never been a more urgent time for immigration reform,” she said.
Escobar said the $1.2 billion facility at Fort Bliss “should not only not exist, but in a rush to be ‘operational,’ it’s clear the Department of Homeland Security was willing to serve bad food, limit legal access and more.”
She said she also spoke to dozens of detainees when she visited on Aug. 28. She said about 1,400 people were detained on the day she visited.
She said most of the detainees had been “living and working in the U.S. for decades – one elderly man had lived in the U.S. for 37 years.”
Escobar said among the men she spoke to who had been detained were a long-haul driver who had worked in the U.S. for 31 years, a small-business owner who owned a salon and lived in Miami for 27 years and a man who worked in construction.
“Most have U.S. citizen wives and kids, pay taxes and were part of our economy,” Escobar said.
She said one man was pulled over in Florida on his way to buy construction supplies.
Escobar said that man was arrested for driving without a license. She said his truck was confiscated along with his cell phone and $1,500 in cash that belonged to his construction supervisor.
He was then turned over to ICE, Escobar said.
“He had never been arrested, wasn’t speeding or breaking the law (he was racially profiled),” Escobar said.
“His U.S. citizen wife tried to get his truck, phone and the cash back, but she was told if her husband wanted those items back, he’d have to go pick them up (he was in ICE custody),” Escobar added.
Some men had work permits that were canceled or were in legal proceedings to adjust their status when they were apprehended, she said.
“Many of the men we spoke to had come from ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ which was shut down by a federal judge,” Escobar said.
Escobar said one man was in pain and “desperately needed” surgery, but was only given over-the-counter pain medication.
Another detainee was promised medication for allergies and never got it, she said.
We have reached out to the El Paso County Republican Party for comment.
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