Feb. 5, 2026, 1:00 p.m. MTU.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar has once again raised concerns about the conditions for detainees in the sprawling Camp East Montana ICE detention center following her latest oversight visit."Things are not getting better. They are getting worse," Escobar said.Escobar, D-El Paso, visited Camp East Montana on Jan. 28 in a planned visit to the growing detention center in El Paso.During the visit she met with immigrants from Minneapolis, Minnesota who were arrested by immigration enforcement agents as part President Donald Trump's controversial surge. Escobar said she was distressed to learn that none of the women who were detained in Minnesota was being given meaningful opportunity to speak with their lawyers."They were allowed by the guard to use a cellphone once a week for two minutes," Escobar recounted. "They were tearfully describing how they were trying to get in touch with their lawyers, but they'd call their lawyers. They'd be put on hold, then the two minutes would be up and the guard would grab the phone and hang it up. They would have to wait another week before trying again."There were just over 3,100 detainees held at the center when she visited, Escobar said.She estimated that over 325 women are being held at the detention center, many of whom have arrived from Minnesota since the beginning of January. El Paso has seen a sharp increase in ICE chartered domestic shuffle flights from Minneapolis to El Paso since Jan. 1.Each of the detainees she spoke with during the visit had been there about three weeks, and many of them were wearing the same clothes at the time of their arrests."Every single woman had been in the facility about three weeks and had been living in the same articles of clothing for three weeks," Escobar said. "Their clothes had not been washed. They had not been offered fresh underwear or fresh clothing. Some of them were literally still in their snow boots from Minnesota."She explained that many of those detained she spoke with were in the U.S. legally and were in immigration cases. Two of the detainees she spoke with were victims of torture and had pending asylum cases, she said."Almost all of them were in the country legally," Escobar said. "Through the conversations they were recounting how they were arrested and detained, and obviously they became very emotional, they said over and over again 'we did it the right way, we followed the rules, we don't understand why this is happening."'Least transparent government agency'Escobar has made five oversight visits to the immigration detention facility since it opened in August 2025, including one unannounced visit in December 2025 where she met with detainees who were begging to be deported.The congresswoman, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee and the Department of Homeland Subcommittee, has also sent at least three letters to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE director Todd Lyons raising concerns over conditions in the detention center.Escobar has requested the Camp East Montana contract from DHS to no avail."It is the least transparent government agency I've ever dealt with," she said. "It feels very much like the administration is doing (its) best to deny members of Congress any information, including denying appropriators that information."The Acquisition Logistics, LLC was awarded $1.2 billion for the construction and management of the detention center in July 2025. The Virginia-based firm then subcontracts with Akima Global Services, LLC, for guards.What little information she has obtained about the site is the result of her visits, including learning that private guards contracted at the detention facility work six to seven days a week in 12-hour shifts, and receive only 40 hours of training.Civil rights advocates and Escobar have repeatedly raised concerns about conditions in the center.The El Paso Times reported nearly 90 emergency 911 health calls coming from the center in the first 15 weeks of operation.Three detainees in custody at the center have died since December, including Gerardo Lunas Campos, whose death was ruled a homicide. Another immigrant who died in the center, Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, was given an autopsy by military doctors at Fort Bliss, who do not publicly release autopsy reports.The worsening situation has led Escobar to question if the private contractor is permitted to operate with impunity."I feel like every time I go and provide oversight, I ask the same questions," Escobar said. "Is the American taxpayer going to get refunded money for services that are not clearly being provided or is this corporation simply maximizing their profit because they're not delivering they're contractually obligated to provide."Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:jdabbott@usatodayco.com; @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.