Opening of new migrant detention center in Texas met with protests [View all]

Source: ABC News

August 18, 2025, 7:27 PM


Camp East Montana, the latest and largest of the new migrant detention centers opening across the country, has been met with criticism from immigration advocates after officially opening Sunday. Protesters greeted the opening of the facility over the weekend.

The detention center, on the grounds of Texas' Fort Bliss, can currently house 1,000 migrants, with officials saying it can eventually expand to hold 5,000.

"We are demanding that this administration do what they say they're going to do if they're not going to close the camps," Marisa Limon Garza, executive director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, told El Paso ABC affiliate KVIA. "At a minimum, we need access to people who have due process and should have access to attorneys."

The criticism came as a federal judge on Monday heard arguments from lawyers for detainees at the Florida detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz," who say they lack proper attorney access and are being held without any formal criminal or immigration charges against them.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/opening-new-migrant-detention-center-texas-met-protests/story?id=124760368