Montana
Exclusive Interview With Secretary Buttigieg in Montana
Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) – Following his visits to the Missoula airport, the CSKT Reservation, and lots of travel time seeing the beauty of western Montana, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg granted me an exclusive nearly 13-minute live in-studio interview in the KGVO Radio studio on Wednesday afternoon.
Secretary Buttigieg first described his reaction to the additions to the Missoula Airport, including the many new carriers recently added to carry travelers around the nation and the world.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Provides an Exclusive Live Interview
“The added capacity at the airport means more airlines and more flights can serve this region,” began Buttigieg. “That means helping to keep air fares under control, because I know affordability is a real concern. So seeing that we were not just creating a better day-to-day experience, but a more competitive landscape was really encouraging for us. The other thing I loved seeing there is that the first phase of that project came in under budget, which is what I’d love to see more of because usually with infrastructure, it tends to happen in the opposite direction.”
Secretary Buttigieg also referenced his visit to see the planned expansion project between Missoula and East Missoula.
Buttigieg Praised the Project Linking Missoula to East Missoula
“Everything we’re doing is going to make a difference in day-to-day life,” he said. “The Safe Streets for All Grant that we’re working with Missoula and funding to connect East Missoula even though it’s only three miles away, is really cut off by the way that the highways run,” he said. “That’s a big project for us, too. It’s on my radar, even though it’s one of many in that program because we really believe that that part of what we can do with our generation’s worth of infrastructure is make sure that it really is connecting and not what you had sometimes in the past, because dividing a highway shouldn’t stand between you and where you need to be.”
The discussion then led to electric vehicles and the necessary infrastructure needed in a state the size and population of Montana.
“It’s the same way that when you go out on the road now,” he said. “You know there’s going be a gas station when you need it. We’ve got to make sure we get to the same place when it comes to EV (Electric Vehicle) charging. We’re not just urging states to do that; we’re funding states to do that. Every state has submitted a plan, making sure you’d never go more than 50 miles without coming to a charger. It’s going to take a few years to put those up, and this is pretty new for us as a country, but we got to make sure we get that done.”
READ MORE: Dangerous U.S. 93 Gets Big Dollar Fix North of Missoula
Buttigieg said Eastern Montana Can Look Forward to More Electric Vehicles
Secretary Buttigieg gave his view on how people in lightly populated eastern Montana might be able to look forward to having more electric vehicles.
“People here are more likely to live in single-family homes which means you already have some kind of charging infrastructure in the form of a plug in the wall,” he said. “That’s what we do at our house in Michigan. But also, the more you drive, the longer distances you cover, and the more of your money you’re spending on gas and diesel; you’ll find it’s cheaper to fill up a car with electricity than it is with gas and diesel. Provided we can make sure that the chargers are there when you need them, which is a big project for us, and also keep fighting to get the sticker price of those EVs down. I think there are a lot of people in these less dense areas who are going to find it’s the right answer.”
LOOKING BACK: Photos of Missoula and How It’s Changed
Check out these photos of how Missoula has changed over the past decade.
Gallery Credit: Ashley Warren
Montana
Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) – joined by Representative Pramila Jayapal, the Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, and 22 other Members of Congress – sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons calling for the immediate closure of Camp East Montana in El Paso. They cite urgent humanitarian concerns following multiple deaths in custody, documented unsafe conditions, and serious deficiencies in medical care.
This marks the fourth letter Congresswoman Escobar has sent to DHS and ICE leadership. The previous three letters have gone unanswered.
The letter can be found in its entirety below and here.
“Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons:
We are urgently calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to shut down Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas.
Camp East Montana has been operational for six months, and at least three people have died at the site since December 2025: Francisco Gaspar-Andres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Victor Manuel Diaz. The El Paso County Medical Examiner has officially ruled Lunas Campos’ death a homicide, citing “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”
Camp East Montana was constructed in a matter of weeks and opened before construction was complete and it does not have enough federal staff on-site to provide adequate oversight. Over the last several months, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, in whose district this facility is located, has sent multiple letters to DHS and ICE regarding concerns about the conditions at Camp East Montana, and has received no responses.
According to detainees, there have been constant and consistent problems at the facility since it opened, beginning with the facility’s poor construction and poor ambient temperature control. Upon opening, the drinking water at Camp East Montana tasted foul and made some detainees sick. Detainees continue to be served inadequate meals, including food that is rotten or frozen; last fall, the facility was also consistently failing to make dietary accommodations for detainees. Detainees have shared that they have sporadic access to outside spaces and recreational areas, and that their dormitory pods are cleaned only once every eight days, despite pods housing up to 72 people at a time. Laundry services are not consistent, and people are washing their clothes in the facility showers. Additionally, the facility experiences flooding and sewage backups when it rains, leading to stagnant water.
One of the biggest concerns with the Camp East Montana facility is the inadequate medical care being provided to detainees. Our offices have heard that only the most ill detainees are referred to the medical unit and that there are inconsistencies as to how soon after arriving detainees are able to undergo initial medical screenings. Detainees with chronic health issues who rely on regimented medications for their health have had difficulty accessing necessary medications, including blood pressure medication and insulin.
At least one of the deaths that occurred in ICE custody, the death of Francisco Gaspar-Andres, appears to partially be the result of poor medical care by staff at the facility. According to ICE’s own account, Gaspar-Andres sought medical attention from facility staff for increasingly serious symptoms, but was only transferred to an area hospital once his condition had severely deteriorated.
In addition to our concerns about poor medical care, we are also aware that detainees have experienced irregular access to their legal counsel, including instances of detainees having only two minutes allotted per phone call every 8 days, which is contrary to ICE’s Detention Standards on access to counsel, and that the belatedly created law library lacks adequate resources for the amount of people currently held at the facility. In January 2026, ICE announced the on-site death of Geraldo Lunas Campos “after experiencing medical distress.” ICE opened an investigation into the death, but did not provide a cause of death. However, The Washington Post later reported that another man detained at Camp East Montana had witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos when he refused to enter a segregated housing unit. Weeks later, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled that Lunas Campos had experienced “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression” and ruled his death a homicide.
Lunas Campos is the first detainee to die at Camp East Montana as a result of a use-of-force incident, but we are strongly concerned that he will not be the last if ICE is allowed to continue operating Camp East Montana.
ICE was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars in the reconciliation bill, $1.2 billion of which were awarded to Acquisition Logistics, LLC, a company with no previous experience managing immigration detention facilities, to build and oversee Camp East Montana. However, in the wake of three deaths in custody so far, continued concerns about conditions at the facility, and ICE’s apparent disinterest in responding to oversight letters from Congress, we do not believe Camp East Montana is being run professionally or responsibly.
Camp East Montana must be shut down. For the safety of everyone at the facility, for an end to abuses to detainees, and for fiscal responsibility to the American people, the site cannot continue to operate. We are calling on DHS and ICE to move to immediately close operations at Camp East Montana.
We look forward to hearing from the Department promptly on this matter.
The other co-signers include Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Nanette Barragán, Yvette Clarke, Lloyd Doggett, Maxwell Frost, Jesús “Chuy” García, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Henry Johnson, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delia Ramirez, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Darren Soto, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Lauren Underwood, Gabe Vasquez, and Nydia Velázquez.
Issues: Immigration
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