The death of a man held at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention camp in Texas is now being considered a potential homicide, according to a local medical examiner's findings. The case has intensified scrutiny of conditions within federal immigration facilities.
Details of the Custodial Death
Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban migrant, was pronounced dead on 3 January while in custody at Camp East Montana. This is a sprawling tent camp located on the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. Campos had been arrested by ICE in July of the previous year.
In its initial press release, ICE stated Campos died after "experiencing medical distress." However, the El Paso County Medical Examiner's office has reportedly found the preliminary cause of death to be "asphyxia due to neck and chest compression." According to the Washington Post, which first reviewed a recording of the examiner's communication, the office is preparing to classify the death as a homicide, pending toxicology results.
Contradictory Accounts and a Troubling Pattern
ICE claimed Campos was placed in segregation after becoming "disruptive while in line for medication" and that staff later found him in distress. However, witness accounts from within the detention camp tell a different story.
Santos Jesus Flores, a fellow detainee, told the Washington Post he saw five guards choking Campos as he resisted being moved to segregation, allegedly because he had not received his medications. Flores stated he heard Campos repeatedly say in Spanish, "I cannot breathe," before falling silent.
This incident is not isolated. Campos was one of four ICE detainees to die in custody in the first ten days of 2025. The agency is coming off its deadliest year in over two decades, with a Guardian investigation noting December 2024 was the deadliest single month, with six fatalities.
Furthermore, Campos is at least the second person to die recently after being housed at Camp East Montana. Francisco Gaspar-Andres, a 48-year-old Guatemalan man, died in hospital following health complications in late 2024 after being held at Fort Bliss.
Broader Context and Official Response
The case unfolds against the backdrop of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. The Department of Homeland Security had previously highlighted Campos's arrest, citing convictions for child sexual abuse, firearm possession, and aggravated assault, as one of the "worst of the worst" successes of its deportation campaign.
Camp East Montana itself has faced repeated criticism from human rights groups for alleged abuse and inhumane conditions. When contacted for comment by the El Paso Times, a representative for the medical examiner's office stated the full autopsy report remained pending and was not publicly available. ICE officials and the examiner's office did not provide further comment on the potential homicide classification.
The death of Geraldo Lunas Campos underscores severe and ongoing concerns about welfare and accountability within the United States' immigration detention system.
