Worker Death Prompts OSHA Safety Probe on Texas ICE Megaproject
Fast‑tracked $1.3B detention complex at Fort Bliss drew multiple violations after 2025 fatality
Aerial view of El Paso, Texas, with Fort Bliss visible at center, where construction of largest federal immigrant detention facility coincided with a 2025 worker fatality now central to an OSHA investigation.
A fatal forklift accident during the construction of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tent detention facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, has resulted in an unresolved federal safety citation that could advance to a formal hearing if the cited employer and federal regulators do not reach a settlement.
Hector Gonzalez, 38, an employee of Base International Inc., died July 21, 2025, after being struck by falling composite beams while unloading materials from a forklift at the ICE facility known as Camp East Montana, according to U.S. Safety and Health Administration records and an April 13 report by watchdog group Public Citizen. The death occurred three days after the U.S. Army awarded a contract worth up to $1.3 billion to Acquisition Logistics LLC to build and operate the facility. The facility opened the following month and eventually became ICE’s largest detention center, holding more than 3,000 people at times.
OSHA investigated the fatality and, in January, issued "serious" citations against three subcontractors for violations of powered industrial truck safety standards, citing struck‑by hazards from unstable elevated loads and failures to train and certify forklift operators, according to the agency’s public enforcement database.
Base International received one "serious" violation for exposing workers to struck‑by hazards from an unstable load. OSHA proposed an $11,585 penalty. The company contested the citation on Feb. 13, 2026, and the case remains open. “Base International is appealing the ruling because there was no wrongdoing by the company,” spokesperson Tom McNicholas told the Associated Press.
JMJ Production Services, based in Austin, Texas, and Fulfillment Personnel Services, based in Mobile, Ala., each received two "serious" violations—the struck‑by hazard citation and a separate violation for failing to certify operator training and evaluation. Both firms reached informal settlements with OSHA on Feb. 18, 2026, each paying a reduced penalty of $15,000. Those cases are now closed.
Acquisition Logistics LLC, the prime contractor at the time and a firm with no prior experience building or operating a detention facility, was listed in the inspection but received no citations; that file was closed in January 2026, OSHA records show. ICE later replaced Acquisition Logistics as prime contractor in March, awarding a no‑bid contract to Amentum Services, according to the Morning Call.
If Base International and OSHA do not reach a settlement, the case will advance to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, where an administrative law judge will schedule a hearing to weigh evidence, testimony and the validity of the citation. No hearing date has been set. OSHA has been contacted for an update and has not yet responded.
