The death of a man held at a federal immigration detention camp in Texas is now being considered as a potential homicide, according to a report from the local medical examiner. The case has cast a fresh spotlight on conditions within US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.
Preliminary Findings Point to Asphyxia
Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban migrant, died on 3 January while in custody at Camp East Montana. This is a sprawling tent camp situated on the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. Lunas Campos had been arrested by ICE in July of the previous year.
In an initial press release, ICE stated that Lunas Campos died after "experiencing medical distress." However, the Washington Post has since reported that the El Paso County medical examiner's office found the preliminary cause of death to be "asphyxia due to neck and chest compression." In a recording reviewed by the newspaper, an official from the examiner's office told a family member they were preparing to classify the death as a homicide, pending toxicology results.
A Clash of Narratives Emerges
ICE's account of the events leading to Lunas Campos's death differs sharply from witness testimony provided to the Washington Post. The agency claimed he had been placed in segregation after becoming "disruptive while in line for medication" and was later found in distress by staff.
Santos Jesus Flores, a fellow detainee, described a violent altercation. He stated he saw five guards choking Lunas Campos as he resisted being moved to segregation, reportedly because he had not received his medications. Flores told the Post he heard Lunas Campos repeatedly cry out in Spanish, "I cannot breathe," before falling silent.
Death Highlights Systemic Concerns in Detention Network
This incident is not isolated. Lunas Campos was one of four ICE detainees to die in custody within the first ten days of 2025. 2025 was the agency's deadliest year in over two decades, with December alone seeing six fatalities according to a Guardian investigation.
Camp East Montana itself has faced sustained criticism from human rights groups for alleged abuse and inhumane conditions. Lunas Campos is at least the second person held at the Fort Bliss camp to die in recent months, following the death of 48-year-old Guatemalan national Francisco Gaspar-Andres from health complications late last year.
The Department of Homeland Security had previously highlighted Lunas Campos's arrest, citing convictions for child sexual abuse, firearm possession, and aggravated assault, as an example of targeting the "worst of the worst." The potential homicide ruling now places the circumstances of his custody under intense scrutiny.
As of the latest reports, neither ICE nor the El Paso medical examiner's office had provided further official comment on the pending classification of the death. The autopsy report remains unavailable to the public.
