Death at ICE detention camp likely homicide, raising questions about federal custody

A 55-year-old man who died while in federal immigration custody at a military base in Texas is likely to be investigated as a homicide, according to medical examiner findings that contradict the government's account of what happened. Geraldo Lunas Campos died on January 3 at Camp East Montana, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility at Fort Bliss near El Paso. The case has drawn attention from civil rights groups and raised questions about what happens inside immigration detention centers across the country.

ICE initially said Lunas Campos became disruptive during medication time and refused to return to his dorm. The agency said he was placed in segregation, where staff found him in distress. Medical personnel responded and called emergency services, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

But a different account emerged this week. An employee at the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner told Lunas Campos's daughter that a doctor is listing the preliminary cause of death as asphyxia due to neck and chest compression. That means he did not get enough oxygen because of pressure on his neck and chest. A fellow detainee told the Washington Post that he witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos to death.

Background

Lunas Campos was a Cuban citizen who came to the United States in 1996 as part of a wave of Cuban immigrants. He lived in Rochester, New York, for more than two decades. ICE arrested him in July during what the agency called a planned enforcement operation. He was transferred to Camp East Montana in September and remained in custody pending removal proceedings.

An immigration judge ordered his removal from the United States in 2005, but the government was unable to obtain travel documents to send him back to Cuba, according to ICE records.

The case comes as the Department of Homeland Security has ramped up immigration enforcement operations. The agency announced that it was conducting "the largest DHS operation ever" in Minnesota and sent more than 2,000 federal immigration officers into the state in recent weeks.

Key Details

The Medical Findings

The medical examiner's preliminary finding of asphyxia due to neck and chest compression represents a significant shift from ICE's account. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Lunas Campos attempted to take his own life and that security staff intervened. The agency said he violently resisted and continued attempting to harm himself. During the struggle, he stopped breathing and lost consciousness, according to DHS.

The medical examiner's office is awaiting toxicology results before making a final determination on the cause of death.

Previous Allegations Against Lunas Campos

ICE records show Lunas Campos was convicted of several crimes between 1998 and 2009, including a 2003 conviction in Rochester for sexual contact with a child under age 11. He was required to register as a sex offender. However, his adult daughter told the Associated Press that the child sexual abuse accusation was false and made as part of a contentious custody battle.

"My father was not a child molester. He was a good dad. He was a human being." — Kary Lunas, daughter of Geraldo Lunas Campos

Broader Concerns About the Facility

Lunas Campos's death is the second migrant death at Camp East Montana. In December, the American Civil Liberties Union and human rights groups sent a letter to ICE demanding an end to immigration detention at the facility. The groups described a pattern of abuses, including beatings and sexual abuse by officers, coercive threats to compel deportation to third countries, medical neglect, insufficient food, and denial of meaningful access to legal counsel.

The ACLU noted that deaths in ICE custody hit a record high last year. The agency recorded 32 deaths in 2025, marking the deadliest year for ICE in nearly two decades.

Family's Struggle

After Lunas Campos died, the medical examiner's office called his family to inform them his body was at the county morgue. When his family asked ICE what happened, an assistant director of the El Paso ICE field office said the cause of death was still pending and that they were awaiting toxicology results.

The family was also told that the only way to return Lunas Campos's body to New York free of charge was if they consented to cremation. His family declined and has been seeking help to raise money to ship his body home.

What This Means

The discrepancy between ICE's account and the medical examiner's findings has prompted calls for increased oversight of immigration detention centers. Civil rights advocates say the case illustrates what they describe as a pattern of unchecked violence in federal custody.

The ACLU is renewing its call for Congress to shut down Camp East Montana entirely. The agency argues that the facility's conditions and the circumstances surrounding Lunas Campos's death demonstrate why immigration detention operations need to end.

The investigation into Lunas Campos's death is ongoing. The final determination on the cause of death will depend on toxicology results and a full examination of the circumstances.