‘We just want to be treated like human beings’: Serious abuses reported in El Paso migrant detention center

“People don’t sleep. It’s cold at night. We do not get medicine. There is blood coming from my throat. Everyone has stomach issues because of the food and lack of nutrition. We have no access to clean water; it is hot, and smells like chemicals.”

This is the testimony of an unidentified person held at the El Paso Service Processing Center (EPSPC), an immigration detention facility in Texas where, according to a recent Amnesty International report, serious human rights abuses are being committed amid the Trump administration’s mass detention and deportation campaign.

The document, drafted after Amnesty’s visit to the EPSPC last April, reveals that the facility’s conditions are deplorable and “violate both U.S. and international detention standards.” During the visit, interviewees reported physical and verbal abuse by security guards. They also complained about overcrowded and unsanitary living spaces, inadequate medical care, expired food, and broken toilets, among other issues.

There are approximately 140 immigration detention centers across the United States. All are at full capacity: as of the end of April, around 49,000 people were being held. The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant crackdown has caused a severe overcrowding crisis in these facilities, pushing them 18% over capacity and worsening the conditions inside.

At the El Paso center, Amnesty International’s report highlights the abuse specifically suffered by Venezuelan migrants, many of whom were detained without evidence and accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang under the Alien Enemies Act invoked by President Donald Trump. According to the report, these Venezuelans “are disproportionately physically abused by guards, put into solitary confinement, and designated as ‘alien enemies’ based simply upon their nationality and tattoos.”

One man identified as Alejandro said that a guard attacked him for refusing to play soccer. He claimed he was thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked, resulting in head and back injuries.

The report also points out that EPSPC fails to ensure basic legal services or due process for migrants, despite these being core requirements of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention standards. Most interviewees said they lacked legal representation and had no regular access to legal guidance. Several didn’t even have information about their own cases.

Regarding medical care, a Mexican reported that the facility only has nursing staff, and that he has sometimes had to wait up to three weeks to receive his medications. Another person stated that they are only allowed to use the infirmary between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Another person who suffers from high cholesterol and blood pressure reported that, due to lack of treatment, he began to suffer physical ailments that culminated in a gastric ulcer. “This is no way to live. We just want to have an idea of what’s happening and what our options are,” one person stated. “We just want to be treated like human beings,” said another.

As for how migrants were detained, the report notes that most of the arrests were arbitrary and “filled with rights violations.” It also states that authorities at the center often threaten detainees with being sent to prisons in El Salvador or to the Guantánamo Naval Base, “as a fear and intimidation tactic and/or disciplinary measure.” 

In fact, according to the testimonies gathered, several immigrants have been illegally sent to these facilities. “They will just call people out of the dorms in the middle of the night and then you just don’t see them again,” recounted one Venezuelan.

“We’ve sent two planes of people to El Salvador. Sometimes we have to transport detainees from other parts of the country because we don’t want to waste taxpayer money and we need to ensure they’re at full capacity,” EPSPC officials stated when questioned about this issue.

Amnesty International concluded that the center does not comply with the global detention standards established by the United Nations, nor even with the local standards set by ICE. It also emphasized its concern about everything happening at this facility and recommended that the U.S. Congress not fund a mass detention and deportation system “that violates international law and standards.”

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