At least two migrants have been infected with tuberculosis at the largest migrant detention center in the U.S., local media reported.
Congresswoman Veronica Escobar and local authorities confirmed that two people tested positive for tuberculosis and 18 others for covid-19 at the facility known as Camp East Montana, according to The Texas Tribune.
Cases of tuberculosis confirmed in immigration detention center
🚨 I just conducted an unannounced visit to Camp East Montana, the largest, most expensive immigration detention facility in the country.
While the private corporation continues to pocket our tax dollars, it’s clear the conditions are only getting worse. pic.twitter.com/4pBLaxZHTZ
– Rep. Veronica Escobar (@RepEscobar) February 6, 2026
Escobar told the portal that he learned of the outbreaks of these diseases last month, in a meeting in which officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were also present.
The legislator, who visited the center last Friday, said on her X-platform account that the problems “persist” and that the management of the facility – run by a private company called Acquisitions Logistics – is “getting worse and worse”.
The reports of these infections come a week after the U.S. confined another detention center, the only one where migrant families are detained and also in Texas, for a measles outbreak.
The conditions at Camp East Montana, a mega-center that is not composed of buildings but of tents and has capacity for some 5,000 detainees, have been criticized by several human rights organizations, which have even called for its immediate closure.
Three people have died inside the center so far this year: one by suicide, another after kidney failure and the third by “homicide” in a confrontation with the center’s staff, according to official versions and leaks to U.S. media.
Under the current Administration, migrant detentions in the U.S. reached record levels: in January the U.S. held more than 73,000 migrants, the highest number since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2001, according to data leaked to CBS News.
Last year was the deadliest year in at least two decades for people in ICE custody, with more than 30 deaths.
Filed under: Tuberculosis in immigration detention center
With information from EFE
