Amnesty International Exposes Human Rights Violations at El Paso Immigrant Detention Facility

Amnesty International today released a new briefing exposing serious human rights violations against immigrants detained at the El Paso Service Processing Center (EPSPC), against the backdrop of the broader crackdown on immigrants under the Trump administration.

The briefing, based on Amnesty International’s April 2025 research trip to El Paso, including a guided tour of the EPSPC facility, documents disturbing patterns of abuse and systemic violations.  Dehumanized by Design: Human Rights Violations in El Paso, reveals widespread mistreatment inside EPSPC and highlights stories of enhanced – and sometimes unlawful – immigration enforcement, and alarming use of the Alien Enemies Act to categorize Venezuelans seeking safety as gang-affiliated and high risk, detain, and expel them. 

“The Trump administration is blatantly targeting and making the lives of our immigrant friends, neighbors, and family members unbearable,” said Amy Fischer, Director of Refugee and Migrant Rights at Amnesty International USA. “Immigrants, including asylum seekers and those who have lived in the U.S. for years, are being rounded up throughout the country, denied access to legal representation and due process, thrown into abusive detention facilities, and in some cases disappeared to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. These practices are not just inhumane – they are unlawful.”

Amnesty International researchers met with 27 detained individuals as well as legal, humanitarian and social service providers and local organizations. The organization observed a general disregard for human rights standards across a wide variety of measures.

Arbitrary detention

Amnesty International documented numerous cases of people, including those with long-term U.S. presence and asylum claims, who were arbitrarily detained. These included people fleeing political violence, torture, and gang violence. Many reported having no access to attorneys, facing prolonged detention without explanation, suffering cruel and inhumane conditions, and being transferred between facilities impacting their ability to communicate with loved ones and legal service providers.

One man from the Dominican Republic said: “I have been in four detention centers in two months. Each time they move me I have to go through processing and my court date and judge and the status of my case changes.”

Others described family separation including their spouses and children being left with no support, no communication with loved ones and mental distress.

One man from Mexico said: “most of us have the same problems…our kids and wives have been abandoned. We are here because the system isn’t good.”

Violation of right to due process and lack of legal resources

The recent termination of the DOJ’s Legal Orientation Program (LOP) has severely limited detained individuals’ ability to understand their rights or navigate the immigration system. In El Paso, long-standing organizations like Estrella del Paso, once a lifeline for migrants through their trainings in detention on immigration law and the legal system as well as supporting unaccompanied minors in court, have lost funding, leaving immigrants caught up in the system without access to legal representation and due process. Most detained individuals interviewed lacked legal representation, and several individuals detained said they were frustrated about lack of access to legal resources, including being regularly denied access to the law library. Others said they lacked access to any information about their case.

One local service provider said: “The biggest thing right now is that we are struggling because so much is happening without any info…They are setting up people to fail intentionally.”

Venezuelan individuals being targeted under the Alien Enemies Act

Under the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, Venezuelans have been disproportionately targeted and labeled as gang-affiliated without evidence, arbitrarily detained, and removed without due process, including to El Salvador, where they face inhumane prison conditions and risk of torture. At EPSPC, people reported that Venezuelans are disproportionately physically abused by guards, put into solitary confinement, and designated as “alien enemies” based simply upon nationality and tattoos – all with no due process.  Speaking anonymously, various individuals detained detailed threats of being sent to Guantanamo or El Salvador by guards as a fear and intimidation tactic and/or disciplinary measure.

One individual from Venezuela detained at the EPSPC told Amnesty International, “there was a man who was thrown to the ground and beaten by guards for [skipping] someone in the food line and then sent to El Salvador. Another Venezuelan went to go talk to officers and then came back with his face totally beaten. The guards don’t just walk up to people and be abusive, but if you annoy a guard or something they’ll threaten to send you to Guantanamo or El Salvador.”

Inhumane detention conditions

Amnesty International found that conditions at EPSPC violate both U.S. and international detention standards. People detained in EPSPC reported physical abuse by guards, use of solitary confinement, unsanitary and overcrowded living spaces including dysfunctional toilets, inadequate medical care, and poor-quality, expired food.

Many of those detained who Amnesty International spoke with had similar experiences. One person said: “We do not get access to medical care as needed. They feed us expired food and we all got sick. They told us to drink water. The water is warm and not clean. It smells. They would not give us any medicine.”

Stop funding this cruel attack on immigrants

Amnesty International’s visit paints a troubling picture, filled with human rights violations.

“This administration is detaining people and carrying out mass deportations without regard for human rights, dignity, or accountability,” Fischer said. “This is not a functional immigration policy – it’s an all-out attack on immigrant communities where cruelty is used as a weapon to encourage people to give up their rights and self-deport.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is requesting over $200 billion to expand its immigration enforcement capacity – including $45 billion to triple current detention capacity up to 150,000 people each day.

Amnesty International urges the U.S. government to end mass immigration detention, ensure individualized assessments for any detention with a presumption of liberty, and establish a guaranteed right to counsel, and consistently uphold international human rights standards. It must also halt the targeting of Venezuelans in strict compliance with the principle of non-refoulement.

Congress must stop funding detention and deportation systems that violate human rights. The administration should halt expulsions under the Alien Enemies Act, guarantee due process and safe return for those affected, and ensure all people in immigration court have timely access to legal representation.

“Congress should be saying no to more money to expand this cruel system,” said Fischer. “No matter what President Trump says, the United States has an obligation to uphold the human rights of everyone within its borders. The violations we documented in El Paso, among so many others, must end now.”