The first emergency call about a detainee trying to harm himself came about a month after Camp East Montana — an immigration detention center in El Paso, Texas — started to house immigrants.
asserted
Montana → try → immigrants
“We have a patient currently in holding who is saying he’s got suicidal ideations, swallowed some foreign object, has refused our basic medical care here,” a nurse told the operator.
asserted
nurse → have → operator
In the audio, you can hear that someone is moaning and yelling in the background.
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someone → hear → background
“At this point he is unable to speak and rolling on the floor in agonizing pain, holding his stomach,” the nurse continued.
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nurse → speak → stomach
“A preliminary X-ray was done and a foreign object was found.
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object → do → ?
We just need to take him to the hospital that’s closest so that they can verify if the object is currently in his system and possibly to excavate the object.”
Listen to the Call
I’ve been reporting on Camp East Montana for months.
uncertain
I → need → months
It sits on barren military land and was supposed to be a model for how the Trump administration would carry out mass deportations.
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administration → sit → deportations
Instead, it became an example of what could go wrong.
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what → become → ?
It remains in operation despite claims of inhumane conditions and abuse, which Department of Homeland Security officials have said are “categorically false.”
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officials → remain → Security
ICE plans to keep the facility running at least through Sept. 30, 2027, The Associated Press reported.
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Press → plan → Sept.
In the span of six weeks between December 2025 and January 2026, three men died at Camp East Montana, making it one of the country’s deadliest detention centers at the time.
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it → die → time
In July, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune published my investigation into the Jan. 3 death of one of those men, Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban national with a history of mental illness.
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ProPublica → publish → illness
He died after an altercation with guards over his medication, and a medical examiner ruled Lunas Campos’ death a homicide.
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death → die → medication
(The Trump administration initially claimed that he had experienced medical distress, but Department of Homeland Security officials later said guards had used force to keep him from killing himself.
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guards → claim → himself
We found that Lunas Campos had repeatedly raised concerns about his mental health while detained at Camp East Montana.
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Campos → find → Montana
Records show staff didn’t transfer him to a facility that could better care for him, despite repeatedly saying they were working to do so.
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they → show → him
I wanted to understand more about how the facility was responding to such incidents.
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facility → want → incidents
I obtained, via public records requests, recordings of more than 160 emergency calls, and I spoke with staff, government officials familiar with the facility, detainees, lawyers and advocates who had spent time inside the detention center.
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who → obtain → center
I asked DHS about my reporting and some of the 911 calls.
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I → ask → calls
A spokesperson did not comment on the specific issues identified in the calls, but said the facility provides “comprehensive medical services, including mental health services.”
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facility → comment → services
If the detainee requires a higher level of medical care, they are referred to local emergency services as needed, the spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → require → services
The official also said that for many immigrant detainees, the healthcare they get while in custody is the best they’ve gotten in their lives.
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they → say → lives
Now I want to share some of those 911 calls with you.
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I → want → you
While they may be difficult to listen to or read about, they offer a glimpse into what’s happening in a place reporters don’t have access to.
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reporters → listen → access
The calls and my investigation show failures in responding to mental health and medical emergencies that extend beyond those experienced by one man.
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that → show → man
(Note: In some cases, recordings were edited to remove long stretches where no one was talking.)
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one → note → stretches
Oct. 12, 2025: “They will not give them medical treatment.”
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They → give → treatment
Two months after Camp East Montana began holding detainees, some were growing so desperate that they were having friends and relatives call 911 to seek medical help on their behalf.
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friends → begin → behalf
A man from North Texas called three times on Oct. 12, trying to get a detainee, whom he identified as his partner, emergency care for his kidney stones.
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he → call → stones
Listen to the Call
“Why isn’t the facility calling?” the operator asked.
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operator → listen → Call
“Because they don’t care.
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they → care → ?
They don’t care about any of the detainees.
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They → care → detainees
They will not give them medical treatment; they don’t care. …
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they → give → treatment
He does not like to go to the hospital.
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He → like → hospital
So when he is saying he is in emergent pain at a level of 10 out of 10 and he needs to go to the emergency room, it is no joke; it has got to be very, very serious.”
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it → say → room
In a declaration to lawyers, a 32-year-old Venezuelan man identified by a pseudonym, Xavier, who fits the profile of the man with kidney stones, said he had gone on a hunger strike because he was not getting any information about his case or about a court date.
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he → identify → date
“Being here feels like torture,” he said.
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he → feel → torture
“I feel like this experience is finishing me emotionally and physically.
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experience → feel → me
I don’t feel like I can survive for another month at this place.
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I → feel → place
They treat us like animals.”
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They → treat → animals
…and 22 more, not listed.
