A second man held at a controversial US immigration detention camp in Texas has died within a fortnight, raising urgent questions about conditions and oversight as a major deportation operation continues.
Details of the Latest Fatality
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed on Monday that Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old man from Nicaragua, was found unconscious and unresponsive in his room at the Camp East Montana facility in El Paso on 14 January. Contract medical staff performed emergency measures and EMTs were called, but Diaz was pronounced dead just after 4pm.
In a press release, the agency stated that Diaz "died of a presumed suicide" but noted the official cause remains under investigation. Diaz was detained on 6 January in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as part of the Trump administration's deportation blitz. He had initially entered the US via the Mexican border in March 2024, was released on parole, and was later ordered for removal in absentia by an immigration judge in August.
A Pattern of Deaths Under Scrutiny
This incident marks the second death at the same sprawling tent facility, located on the Fort Bliss military base, in just two weeks. On 3 January, Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, from Cuba, died at Camp East Montana. ICE said he experienced medical distress after being "disruptive while in line for medication."
However, the local medical examiner's preliminary finding pointed to "asphyxia due to neck and chest compression," and his death is potentially being investigated as a homicide. A fellow detainee, Santos Jesus Flores, told the Washington Post he witnessed five guards choking Lunas Campos, who repeatedly said in Spanish that he could not breathe.
The Department of Homeland Security later claimed Lunas Campos was trying to kill himself and "violently resisted" officers—an allegation not present in ICE's initial statement.
Mounting Toll and Broader Context
These deaths occur against a backdrop of a significant increase in fatalities in immigration custody. Thirty-two people died in ICE custody last year, the highest number in two decades. At least five people have reportedly died in ICE custody this year alone.
The Camp East Montana site itself has been a flashpoint for controversy, with protesters gathering at the Cassidy Gate at Fort Bliss in August 2025 to oppose mass deportations as the camp was being constructed. Another inmate, Francisco Gaspar-Andres, 48, died at a nearby hospital on 3 December after being held at the same facility.
The consecutive deaths at Camp East Montana are likely to intensify scrutiny on the treatment of detainees and the accountability of private contractors running such facilities, particularly during periods of aggressive immigration enforcement.
