AUSTIN, TEXAS — Today, 39 members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus called on State Rep. Cole Hefner (R-Mount Pleasant) to convene an interim hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans’ Affairs to investigate human rights abuses at ERO El Paso Camp East Montana, an ICE detention facility located on the grounds of Fort Bliss Military Base, in El Paso.
Public reporting documents extreme conditions within Camp East Montana. For months, detainees have lived in unsanitary facilities for months, lacked access to proper nutrition, were prevented from calling attorneys, threatened with extrajudicial deportation, and physically and sexually abused by facility staff. The death of detainee Geraldo Lunas Campos was ruled a homicide by the El Paso County Medical Examiner. As of February 7, two cases of Tuberculosis have been identified at the facility, and confirmed by officials representing the City of El Paso.
Civil rights watchdog organizations have called for an investigation into Camp East Montana multiple times now, most recently on January 16, 2026. As the letter to Chairman Hefner notes: “while Camp East Montana is operated and funded by the federal government, you have the power granted by the Texas Constitution and the Texas House Rules to convene a hearing of your committee, to call and compel the testimony of pertinent witnesses, and to issue policy change recommendations.” Texas House Democrats are asking the Republican leadership of the House to do just that.
Representative Jessica González issued the following statement:
"Texas House Democrats believe in the Constitution, in due process, and accountability. The atrocities that have been documented in Camp East Montana should make every Texan angry and appalled. As Texas legislators, we must investigate abuses of the Constitution on Texas soil, even when they happen in federal facilities or on military property.
“We are calling for an investigation because Texans, and Americans, are quickly losing faith in their government. We must not allow the abuse of human rights to stand on Texas soil.”
Read the full text of Texas House Democrats’ letter to Rep. Cole Hefner here.