ICE confirms a measles outbreak in the nation's largest detention facility in Texas

ICE confirms a measles outbreak in the nation's largest detention facility in Texas The agency said it's closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with public health authorities while the facility has been closed to visitors and attorneys. Camp East Montana is an immigration detention facility on the Fort Bliss military base along the Texas-Mexico border. Paul Ratje / The New York Times / Redux file Share Add NBC News to Google March 4, 2026, 2:15 PM EST By Nicole Acevedo Listen to this article with a free account 00:00 00:00 At least 14 cases of measles have been confirmed at the nation’s largest ICE detention facility, an agency spokesperson told NBC News in a statement. People who tested positive for the highly contagious disease at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, have been “cohorted and separated from the rest of the detained population to prevent further spread,” the spokesperson said. The agency “is closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with public health authorities to ensure appropriate medical care and containment measures are in place — the health and safety of detainees, staff, and the community remain a top priority,” the spokesperson added. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, whose El Paso district includes the detention center located on the Fort Bliss Army base, said the facility is closed to visitors and attorneys because of the outbreak. In addition to the 14 people who got sick, 12 other individuals have been isolated in connection to the outbreak, according to Escobar. “There has been nothing but crisis after crisis inside the walls of this tent city," the Democratic congresswoman said in a statement. Since Camp East Montana opened last year, three detainees have died while in ICE custody. Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, of Nicaragua, "died of a presumed suicide" inside the facility on Jan. 14 . Francisco Gaspar-Andres, 48, a detainee from Guatemala, died of health complications from cirrhosis and cardiac hypertrophy . Another Camp Ea...