Texas detention camp closed amid measles outbreak
A large immigration detention camp in Texas has been closed to visitors and attorneys due to a measles outbreak, a lawmaker said Tuesday, reports BritPanorama.
There are 14 active measles cases at the detention center on the Fort Bliss Army base, with 112 individuals isolated, according to U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat whose district includes the facility, known as Camp East Montana. The camp will remain closed to visitors and attorneys until March 19 or March 20.
“While on one hand, it is a good thing that the measles outbreak is being taken seriously, on the other hand, I am alarmed that a preventable crisis has created conditions where detainees can only access their lawyers virtually,” Escobar stated.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The camp opened last year after the Trump administration awarded a contract worth up to $1.3 billion to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a Virginia contractor that had not previously operated an ICE facility. Detainees have reported living conditions where an average of about 3,000 people per day endure loud and unsanitary quarters, with diseases spreading easily, and sleep considered a luxury.
Measles, an easily preventable disease that was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, swept through Texas communities last year, largely due to health departments lacking the funding required to run vaccine programs. West Texas was notably impacted.
