A Cuban immigrant died alone in detention, and the cause of death is directly contradicting ICE

An autopsy released this week ruled the death of a Cuban migrant held in solitary confinement at a Texas detention facility a homicide, directly contradicting statements from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As first detailed by NPR, 55-year-old Geraldo Lunas Campos died on January 3 after an encounter with guards at Camp East Montana, a tent detention complex located on the grounds of Fort Bliss near El Paso.

The El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death was asphyxia due to neck and torso compression. The autopsy documented injuries consistent with a physical struggle, including abrasions on Lunas Campos’s chest and knees and hemorrhaging in the neck area.

A forensic pathologist who reviewed the findings agreed with the medical examiner’s conclusion, citing petechial hemorrhages and other injuries consistent with sustained pressure on the body. The report stated the neck injuries aligned with the possibility of a hand or knee being applied during restraint.

The medical findings undermine ICE’s shifting explanations

A witness held at the facility told reporters that Lunas Campos was handcuffed while several guards restrained him on the ground. According to the account, one guard placed an arm around his neck until he lost consciousness, a description that aligns with the autopsy’s findings and parallels broader national enforcement tensions, including a recent incident that went wrong in LA.

ICE’s initial statement issued on January 9 did not mention any altercation. The agency said Lunas Campos was disruptive, transferred to segregation, and later found in medical distress, prompting staff to call for medical assistance.

That account changed after his family was informed the death would likely be ruled a homicide. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson later claimed Lunas Campos had attempted suicide and that guards were intervening when he stopped breathing during a struggle, asserting he had violently resisted staff.

After the homicide ruling was finalized, DHS emphasized Lunas Campos’s criminal history, describing him as a convicted child sex offender. Court records show he was convicted in New York in 2003 of sexual contact with a child under 11 and later for drug-related offenses, though the autopsy report did not reference suicide attempts and instead noted a history of bipolar disorder and anxiety.

Lunas Campos had lived in Rochester, New York, for more than 20 years after legally entering the United States in 1996. He was taken into ICE custody in July as part of an enforcement operation targeting individuals with criminal convictions deemed eligible for removal.

His death has drawn renewed scrutiny to Camp East Montana, which is expected to become the largest immigration detention center in the country. The $1.2 billion contract to operate the facility was awarded to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a private company that reportedly had no prior experience running correctional facilities, and it remains unclear whether the guards involved were federal employees or contractors.

Lunas Campos was one of at least three detainees who have died at the facility in just over a month. Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old man from Nicaragua, died on January 14 in what officials described as a presumed suicide, and Francisco Gaspar-Andres, 48, from Guatemala, died on December 3 from suspected liver and kidney failure.

Representative Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, has called for a congressional briefing on the deaths and demanded that DHS preserve all evidence and halt any deportation of potential witnesses. She has also called for Camp East Montana to be shut down and for the contract with its operator to be terminated, a stance that resonates amid political news such as Trump’s recent demands before a major network interview.