REPORT: ICE confirms contagious outbreak in the nation’s largest detention facility

March 4, 2026

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.

112 additional individuals have been isolated in connection to the outbreak, according to Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas).

“There has been nothing but crisis after crisis inside the walls of this tent city,” she complained in a statement.

There deaths have been reported at Camp East Montana since it opened last year. All were detainees.

“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… 55-year-old Geraldo Lunas Campos, of Cuba, died on Jan. 3 and his death was ruled a homicide,” NBC News reported.

At least 14 cases of measles have been confirmed at the nation’s largest ICE detention facility, an agency spokesperson tells NBC News. https://t.co/zZaeJ0ZFjH

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 4, 2026