ICE Plans No-Bid Extension at El Paso's Camp East Montana, Lifting Contract Value to About $2.8 Billion

A revised federal justification reviewed by Project Salt Box says the Department of Homeland Security plans to keep Amentum Services Inc. running Camp East Montana — the tent detention camp on the Fort Bliss Army post in El Paso, Texas, described in the reporting as the nation's largest immigration detention centre — into late 2028 without competing bids. The extension would lift the contract's estimated value to about $2.8 billion (yaani about $2.8 billion in projected value over future years, not money already paid), more than double the roughly $1.2 billion the Associated Press reported in July for March 2026 through September 2027. Three detainees have died at the camp since it opened in August 2025, and inspectors have recorded dozens of standards violations — facts the reporting sets out alongside ICE's argument that only Amentum can do the work because it owns the camp's housing, generators, security systems and kitchen equipment.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk26 October 20263 min readRead in all 3 languages

EL PASO, Texas — The Department of Homeland Security plans to keep a private contractor running the nation's largest immigration detention centre into late 2028 without seeking competing bids, according to a revised federal justification reviewed by Project Salt Box. The centre is Camp East Montana, a tent camp on the Fort Bliss Army post in El Paso, Texas.

Source: Project Salt Box

The extension would raise the estimated value of Amentum Services Inc.'s contract to about $2.8 billion (yaani about $2.8 billion in projected value over future years, not money already paid). That is more than double the $1.2 billion the Associated Press reported in July that Amentum stood to be paid for running the camp from March 2026 through September 2027, Project Salt Box reported. The filing calls the camp a temporary facility throughout, and officials say they are still weighing whether to replace it.

According to the justification, the cost of running the camp would rise over time: the first seven months would cost about $477 million, or roughly $68 million a month, and by the final six months the cost would reach about $97 million a month. Another $57 million in the document is redacted with no explanation, Project Salt Box reported.

ICE's contracting office argues that only Amentum can do the work because the company owns the camp's housing units, generators, security systems and kitchen equipment, and officials also point to a nationwide shortage of detention beds. Amentum was the only company to express interest after a notice in March, according to the filing, and that notice told companies it was not a request for competitive quotes. How Amentum came to own the equipment is not explained in the documents, Project Salt Box reported.

Three people have died in custody at the camp since it opened in August 2025, Project Salt Box and YAC News reported. The El Paso County medical examiner ruled the January 3, 2026 death of Geraldo Lunas Campos a homicide caused by pressure on his neck and torso, according to the reporting, and the Government Accountability Office reported that evidence associated with the incident was missing or destroyed. ICE inspectors found 49 violations of detention standards at the camp in February and 52 in May, YAC News reported. A DHS spokesperson told The Hill in July that detainees at the camp were not being beaten or abused, YAC News reported — the abuse allegations remain allegations, and the documents made public do not show how officials who approved the contract decisions weighed the deaths and violations.

Source: YAC News

Project Salt Box reported that ICE posted the revised justification on October 19 for keeping Amentum at the camp into late 2028 without competing bids, which would lift the estimated value of the contract to about $2.8 billion. The figure is a projected value over future years, not money already paid.

Sources