In every report, Human Rights Watch makes recommendations for how to improve the human rights concerns addressed. These are just some of the recommendations HRW has made to improve the quality of life for immigrants detained at Camp East Montana.

While the below recommendations are specific to Camp East Montana, they apply to immigration detention centers around the country (and world).

To the US Executive:

Shift Toward Humane, Rights-based Alternatives to Detention

• End the use of Ft. Bliss and other military assets to detain and deport people in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.
• Replace immigration detention with community-based case management programs that provide holistic services, including legal aid, housing, and employment assistance, or, as necessary, with the least intrusive forms of supervision and monitoring to ensure compliance with immigration proceedings and removal.
• Direct ICE to refrain to from detaining people participating in the processes authorities have laid out for them, including routine check-ins at field offices, showing up to court hearings, applying for asylum and other forms of immigration relief.
• Release vulnerable populations such as pregnant people, elderly people, and people with serious medical conditions from detention.

Prevent Further Harm and Abuse, and Safeguard the Wellbeing of Immigrants

• To the maximum extent permitted by law, direct ICE to use immigration detention only as a measure of last resort, for the shortest possible duration.
• If detention cannot be avoided, ensure access to reasonable accommodations and the necessary medical treatment to safeguard health and maintain dignified conditions.
• Prohibit the use of solitary confinement in immigration detention facilities.

To the US Congress

Remedy and Prevent Ongoing Harm and Rights Violations in Immigration Detention

• Eliminate mandatory immigration detention. Ensure that any decision to detain a person is based on an individualized assessment subject to judicial review and prioritization of alternatives to detention.
• Immediately reduce harms by passing binding detention standards that ensure constitutional treatment of detained people.
• Hold ICE accountable for meeting specific standards outlined in the National Detention Standards (NDS) for all non-dedicated facilities, and the Performance Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS) for all ICE custody dedicated facilities with regard to provision of care and data reporting.

Ensure Congressional Oversight of Detention Facilities

• Ensure all congressionally designated independent oversight bodies have adequate funding and the capacity, staff, and resources needed to effectively monitor detention conditions, ensure detainees have access to adequate complaint procedures, investigate abuses, and ensure accountability for violations of detainees' rights.
• Immediately conduct robust oversight of ICE detention, including through use of subpoena authority and investigations into the conditions documented in this report and asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Research Services (CRS) to investigate immigration detention conditions.
• Establish a special or select congressional committee to investigate deaths in ICE custody, healthcare services, including mental health services, and the use of solitary confinement in immigration detention.
• Pass legislation requiring timely and appropriate healthcare, including mental health services, for all detainees, with oversight mechanisms to prevent neglect and abuse.
• Pass legislation that prohibits the use of solitary confinement in immigration detention facilities, including for people with psychosocial disabilities (mental health conditions), as its prolonged use constitutes cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and can amount to torture.

To the UN Committee Against Torture, the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

• Investigate the allegations of ill-treatment in US immigration detention in this and other reports.
• Consider fact-finding visits and regular monitoring of Camp East Montana and other ICE detention facilities.
• Call on the US government to comply with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules) and specialized standards, such as UNHCR ExCom Conclusion 44 on the Detention of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers and UNHCR’s Detention Guidelines.

 

Detainees at the Florida immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in January 2026.
Photo by Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General