Listen, I know we usually spend our time complaining about the soul-crushing dust storms and the fact that Lubbock’s only cultural landmark is a Buddy Holly statue that looks like it’s perpetually judging your life choices. But let’s take a look at our neighbors in El Paso, where the federal government has spent $1.2 billion to turn a patch of desert into a “model” detention center that functions with the efficiency of a medieval dungeon and the medical expertise of a YouTube comment section.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar and two dozen Democrats are currently begging the Trump administration to shut down Camp East Montana. Why? Oh, just the usual: three deaths in six weeks, “spontaneous use of force” (which is ICE-speak for a homicide involving staff), and a sewage system that apparently identifies as an indoor pool. The facility was built in a record two months by a Virginia company with zero experience, proving once again that if you have a pulse and a government contract, you too can build a $1.2 billion tent city that lacks potable drinking water.
The highlights of this desert paradise include staff allegedly crushing a teenager’s testicles while blocking security cameras—classy!—and a medical philosophy that involves waiting until a man’s organs are essentially decorative before sending him to a hospital. ICE claims one man received “constant, high-quality care” for his jaundice and bleeding gums right up until he died of liver failure. It’s the kind of “high-quality” care you usually find at a Lubbock gas station at 3:00 AM, except with more barbed wire and fewer Slim Jims.
The real kicker? This $1.2 billion disaster is the “model” for two dozen more facilities planned across the country, including several right here in our backyard. So, while you’re sitting at a red light on Loop 289 watching a plastic bag tumble by, just remember: your tax dollars are currently being “fiscally responsible” by funding a facility where “suicide attempt” is the first draft for “staff-related homicide.”
If this is the “model” for the future of Texas detention, how long until they start charging the detainees a “resort fee” for the luxury of drinking the sewage?