Topline
The death of a Cuban immigrant held at an immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, has been ruled a homicide, multiple outlets reported on Wednesday night, citing an autopsy report released by the county medical examiner’s office.
The death took place at Camp East Montana, an ICE detention facility inside Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.
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Key Facts
According to the Washington Post, the report released by the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner said that the cause of the man’s death was “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression” and the “manner of death is homicide.”
The autopsy report, however, is only a classification of how the person died and does in itself not imply that the death was intentional or determine any criminal culpability.
Federal government officials have claimed 55-year-old Geraldo Lunas Campos took his own life after an altercation with guards at the facility, although a fellow detainee told the Washington Post that he had seen Lunas Campos being pinned and choked by the guards.
In a statement shared with Reuters on Wednesday night, the Department of Homeland Security reiterated the claim, saying security staff intervened to save his life, but “Campos violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take his life.”
What Did Federal Officials Previously Say About Lunas Campos’ Death?
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) first issued a statement about Lunas Campos’ death earlier this month, saying he had died in custody at the agency’s Camp East Montana detention facility in El Paso. At the time, the statement said the 55-year-old died after “experiencing medical distress.” The statement alleged Lunas Campos had been “disruptive while in line for medication and refused to return to his assigned dorm,” and had to be placed in segregation, where staff “observed him in distress” and called for medical assistance. However, authorities later described his death as a suicide after the Washington Post reported on the witness’s claim and a preliminary medical examination indicating homicide.
What Do We Know About Camp East Montana?
Conditions at the immigration detention facility called Camp East Montana, located inside the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss in El Paso, have come under scrutiny from various civil and human rights groups in the past few months. In a joint statement issued in December, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups blasted what they deemed as “alarming conditions of confinement and repeated instances of coercion, physical force, and threats against immigrants facing third-country deportations, in violation of agency policies and standards, as well as statutory and constitutional protections,” at the facility.
What Do We Know About Other Deaths At Ice Detention Sites?
Earlier this week, ICE confirmed the death of 36-year-old Victor Manuel Diaz, who was detained in Minneapolis earlier this month, at Camp East Montana. The agency said he was declared dead last week, shortly after being found unconscious and unresponsive in his room. The agency said Diaz died of “a presumed suicide,” but the official cause is still under investigation. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the death of a Mexican national who was found “hanging by the neck and unresponsive” at an ICE detention facility in Georgia.
Further Reading
Man Detained In Minnesota Dies In ICE Custody—Gov. Walz Demands Probe (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/01/22/death-of-cuban-migrant-in-ice-detention-facility-ruled-a-homicide-in-autopsy-report/
