Detainees at ICE facility in Texas were beaten and abused, rights groups say

Detainees at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Texas told two rights groups they were beaten by guards, denied medical care and prevented from contacting family and lawyers, according to a report issued on Wednesday.



The report, issued by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, spans dozens of pages and is based on 80 interviews HRW conducted with detainees that focused on conditions at Camp East Montana, which is located at the U.S. Army's Fort Bliss in El Paso.



"People detained at Camp East Montana reported routine beatings and other excessive force by guards, chronic malnutrition, and unsanitary and degrading living conditions," the report said, citing interviews.



"Together, these abuses violate fundamental protections under U.S. and international human rights law."



The report is the latest in a string of investigations documenting abuses at the facility, the largest immigration detention center in the U.S.



The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, said in a statement that reports of inhumane conditions at the facility were "categorically false".