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New West Texas immigration detention facility is a

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New West Texas immigration detention facility is a


El Paso, Texas — The long white tents, visible to anyone driving across East El Paso, Texas, are designed to be part of the biggest immigration holding facility in U.S. history, with a capacity for as many as 5,000 immigrants.

“That’s what it is, a giant tent city,” Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas, who has been inside twice, told CBS News. “…There are hard floors. There are walls that go up, probably about three-quarters of the way to the ceiling.” 

Escobar said she saw about 1,500 people inside during her last visit two weeks ago.

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The government awarded Acquisition Logistics a $1.24 billion contract to build and operate the detention center, dubbed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as Camp East Montana, which opened last month. 

A house in suburban Richmond, Virginia, is listed as the headquarters of Acquisition Logistics and has no public record of running a detention facility before this one. 

Acquisition Logistics did not reply to messages from CBS News.

The government has built the facility on the edge of Fort Bliss, an Army post. But the immigration facility is nowhere near anything that resembles an active military base. It’s in the middle of sand dunes and scrub brush.

Fort Bliss and El Paso have a long history with immigration. Unaccompanied children stayed there under former President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama.

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“I just would like to be a little more vigilant about what is going on in there,” El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego told CBS News. “I want to see it. I want to make sure.”

CBS News requested access to the facility, and asked to speak to Department of Homeland Security and ICE officials about conditions for detainees, but access was denied and they declined to comment.

“One of the things I heard repeatedly from the men who I spoke to…was that the food was so bad that it was making them sick,” Escobar said.

Escobar said some of the men inside told her they were moved to EL Paso from Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” after the government emptied that immigration detention facility to comply with a judge’s order. However, last week, a federal appeals court temporarily halted the judge’s order, effectively allowing “Alligator Alcatrez” to stay open.    

“They are told nothing,” Escobar said of the detainees. “They are given no information. They don’t know if they’re going to be moved to another facility. They don’t know if they’re going to be deported. It’s like a black box for them.”

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Texas sues Netflix for allegedly spying on kids, addicting users

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Texas sues Netflix for allegedly spying on kids, addicting users


Netflix was sued Monday (May 11) by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accused the streaming company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent, and designing its platform to be addictive. Ram Nabong reports.



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Texas sues Netflix, alleges platform spied on kids and collected data

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Texas sues Netflix, alleges platform spied on kids and collected data


The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday, accusing the company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent and designing the platform to be addictive.

Texas claims that Netflix has falsely represented to consumers that it didn’t collect or share user data while it actually tracked and sold viewers’ habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies.

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The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claims that “Netflix’s endgame is simple and lucrative: get children and families glued to the screen, harvest their data while they are stuck there, and then monetize the data for a handsome profit.”

The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday. (Nikos Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“When you watch Netflix, Netflix watched you,” Texas added in the lawsuit.

NETFLIX CO-FOUNDER REED HASTINGS TO STEP DOWN, DEPARTURE IS ‘SPOOKING INVESTORS’

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The complaint quotes comments made by former CEO Reed Hastings who said in 2020, while he was still leading the streaming company, that “we don’t collect anything,” amid questions over Big Tech companies’ data collection practices.

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Netflix was also accused of quietly using “dark patterns” to keep users watching on its platform, such as an autoplay feature that starts a new show after a different show ends.

NETFLIX RAISES SUBSCRIPTION PRICES ACROSS ALL PLANS

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)

Paxton said in a press release that Netflix “has built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans’ personal data without their consent, and my office will do everything in our power to stop it.”

The attorney general said he’s charging Netflix under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act and seeks to require Netflix to stop the unlawful collection and disclosure of user data, require Netflix to disable autoplay by default on kid’s profiles, and to secure injunctive relief and civil penalties.

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FOX Business reached out to Netflix for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.



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6 people found dead inside a boxcar in Texas, officials say | CNN

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6 people found dead inside a boxcar in Texas, officials say | CNN


Six people were found dead inside a cargo train boxcar in a Texas city along the southern border on Sunday, officials said.

The bodies were found in a Union Pacific train at a rail yard in Laredo, around 160 miles south of San Antonio, just after 3:30 p.m. local time, said Jose Espinoza, a public information officer with the Laredo Police Department.

The circumstances of their deaths are unknown, said Laredo police spokesperson Joe Baeza, according to CNN affiliate KGNS, and an investigation is underway.

Union Pacific operates across the border and is the only railroad that services all access points into Mexico, according to the freight company’s website.

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Temperatures on Sunday afternoon in Laredo were in the low-mid 90s, though it’s unclear whether heat was a factor.

Union Pacific said it was saddened by the incident and is working closely with law enforcement to investigate.

Laredo police said they received a call around 3 p.m. from an employee at the Union Pacific rail yard, KGNS reported. The bodies were discovered during a routine rail car inspection, police said. No survivors were found.

CNN has reached out to Laredo police for more information.

“It’s a very early phase of the investigation. There’s not a lot to reveal right now,” Baeza said, KGNS reported.

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The immigration status and ages of the deceased are not yet known, Espinoza said.

US Customs and Border Protection referred CNN to the Laredo Police Department, saying “The incident remains under investigation by Laredo Police Department and Homeland Security Investigation and Texas Rangers.”

CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, HSI and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“It’s a very unfortunate event,” Espinoza told CNN. “It was too many lives that were lost.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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