At least 14 active measles cases have been reported at a troubled El Paso tent camp holding more than 3,000 immigrants, Democratic U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar said Tuesday. Another 112 people in the facility are being isolated.
The outbreak has closed the detention center to visitors, reaffirming what Escobar and advocates call an “unfolding humanitarian crisis” at Camp East Montana located on the Fort Bliss U.S. Army base. It comes after a spate of tuberculosis and COVID-19 outbreaks there over the past month and mounting complaints by lawmakers and advocates about the “deteriorating” conditions there.
Escobar said the outbreak also poses risk for the greater El Paso community, adding in a statement that detainees with measles were being quarantined at local hospitals. In addition to the thousands held at the camp, she said there are “likely hundreds of El Pasoans employed there, along with 56 members of the Texas National Guard.”
