ICE Says Camp East Montana Detention Center Will Stay Open Under New Contractor After $1.2 Billion Deal Terminated and DHS Payment Lapses
ICE says Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss will remain open under a new contractor after Secretary Kristi Noem terminated a prior $1.2 billion deal, saying the change is meant to raise detention standards and will add on‑site medical care, more staffing and a formal quality‑assurance plan, though ICE declined to name the contractor or give a timeline. Axios reports the previous contract expired at the end of February and that Noem’s policy requiring her personal sign‑off on contracts over $100,000 has created a backlog that left the operator unpaid and has left multiple ICE facilities operating on expired contracts with delayed payments.
📌 Key Facts
- ICE says Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss is not closing and will remain in operation under a new contractor after DHS terminated a prior $1.2 billion contract.
- ICE frames Secretary Kristi Noem’s termination of the $1.2 billion deal as an effort to raise detention standards and improve services, not to shutter the facility.
- ICE says the new contract will add on-site medical care, more staffing and a formal quality-assurance surveillance plan to strengthen ICE’s direct oversight, but declined to identify the contractor or give a timeline for full implementation.
- The previous contract for Camp East Montana expired at the end of February; ICE data show the facility held nearly 3,000 detainees per day in mid‑February, and the operator is unpaid pending Noem’s signature.
- Noem imposed a policy requiring her personal review and approval of all DHS contracts of $100,000 or more, creating a mounting backlog that has delayed approvals and payments.
- Multiple other ICE facilities — including Dilley, Texas (about 700 detainees in mid‑February) and Delaney Hall, New Jersey (roughly 900 last month) — are also operating with expired contracts and missing payments because of the same bottleneck.
- Axios links these contract and payment delays to broader DHS-wide slowdowns affecting FEMA disaster-relief funds and some border-wall contracts, and quotes a source calling the front‑office situation a “giant sh*t show.”
📊 Relevant Data
DHS processes more than 5,100 contract actions worth over $100,000 annually, all requiring Secretary Noem's personal approval under her policy implemented to cut waste, fraud, and abuse.
DHS contract reviews creating uncertainty, causing layoffs — Federal News Network
Three migrants died in custody at Camp East Montana within a two-month period in early 2026, with one death ruled a homicide due to asphyxia from neck and chest compression.
ICE Makes Humiliating Decision Over Deadly Detention Center — Yahoo News
An ICE inspection in September 2025 found over 60 violations of federal standards at Camp East Montana, including absent medical intake procedures, inadequate safety protocols, and detainees lacking access to legal advice or grievance processes for weeks.
ICE Makes Humiliating Decision Over Deadly Detention Center — Yahoo News
Deaths in ICE custody surged to 30 in 2025, the highest annual toll in two decades, with at least nine more reported in 2026 amid expanded detention under mass deportation efforts.
ICE Makes Humiliating Decision Over Deadly Detention Center — Yahoo News
Latinos accounted for nine out of ten ICE arrests during the first six months of 2025, with the percentage of noncriminal Latino detainees removed increasing from 57% in 2024 to 88% in 2025.
UCLA Report Finds Latino Arrests by ICE Have Skyrocketed Under the Trump Administration's Second Term — UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
📰 Source Timeline (3)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Axios reports that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem imposed a policy requiring her personal review and approval of all DHS contracts of $100,000 or more, which has produced a mounting backlog.
- The contract for Camp East Montana, which ICE data show was holding almost 3,000 detainees per day in mid‑February, expired at the end of February and is awaiting Noem’s signature, leaving the operator unpaid.
- Axios adds that many other ICE detention facilities, including the Dilley, Texas, family detention center (about 700 detainees in mid‑February) and New Jersey’s Delaney Hall (roughly 900 immigrants last month), are also operating with expired contracts and missing payments due to the same bottleneck.
- The story links these payment and contract delays to broader DHS‑wide slowdowns, including FEMA disaster‑relief funds and some border wall contracts, and quotes a source calling DHS’ front‑office situation a “giant sh*t show.”
- ICE states on the record that Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss is 'NOT closing' and will remain in operation under a new contractor.
- ICE characterizes Secretary Kristi Noem’s termination of the prior $1.2 billion contract as a move to raise detention standards and improve services, not to shutter the facility.
- ICE says the new contract will add on‑site medical care, more staffing, and a formal 'quality assurance surveillance plan,' and claims it will strengthen ICE’s direct oversight of the El Paso‑area facility.
- ICE declines to identify the new contractor or give a timeline for full implementation.