El PASO — There have been dozens of calls to 911 from the immigration detention camp at Fort Bliss including calls about two men who died in custody in January. KTEP News under the Open Records Act obtained call logs, information and recordings of the calls.
They 911 exchanges between staff and dispatch operators offer at look at who is held at the tent facility and the kind of medical emergencies often happening inside Camp East Montana.
There were 50 calls from the massive ICE detention facility in the span of about two month from December 1,2025 through February 2, 2026. They involve a range of medical emergencies.
Several staff member calling for help seemed to have little to no medical information readily available about the people in their care at the camp. Patients include a pregnant woman, man with late stage lung cancer, and an 80-year old detainee who fell and hit his head while showering at the tent facility.
All raise questions about why people who are physically or medically fragile are held at the camp when ICE has alternatives to detention that have been used in the past including ankle monitors.
One 911 call also raises questions about detainee safety at the facility. In mid-January a 20-year-old man was stabbed by another detainee. The cut was so deep the staff member told the dispatcher "you see tendon" in his hand.
Listen to a sample of the calls.
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