Yesterday, Geraldo Lunas Campos’ death in Camp East Montana, an ICE detention center at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, was ruled a homicide, according to the county medical examiner’s autopsy report. Lunas Campos was a 55-year-old man from Cuba who was arrested last July and transferred to Camp East Montana in September. In a January 9 press release, ICE stated that Lunas Campos died after “experiencing medical stress,” then a week later told the Associated Press that he died after attempting suicide and ICE staff trying to save him. The autopsy report indicates that another person put pressure on his neck and chest, blocking oxygen. Last week, a man detained at the facility told the Washington Post that he saw guards choking Lunas Campos and heard him saying “I can’t breathe” in Spanish.
Three men have died at this makeshift tent camp–the largest in the country–in the past two months. Camp East Montana is where many Minnesotans have been sent in recent weeks. In December, the ACLU of New Mexico, ACLU of Texas, and other human rights groups urged ICE to shut down the facility due to reports of beatings and sexual abuse, coercive threats to compel deportation to third countries, medical neglect, insufficient food, and other rights violations. Last year, at least 30 people died in immigration detention, a record. Since the start of 2026–21 days–six people have already died in ICE custody.
