Cuban immigrant's death at Texas ICE facility ruled a homicide: report
The East Montana Detention Facility under construction on the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025 Photographer: Paul Ratje/Bloomberg via Getty Images
EL PASO, Texas - The death of a Cuban national at a federal immigration detention camp in El Paso has been ruled a homicide, according to autopsy findings released Wednesday by the El Paso Medical Examiner’s office.
Homicide ruling in El Paso ICE death
What we know:
Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, died Jan. 3 at Camp East Montana while being physically restrained by law enforcement officers, the report stated. The medical examiner determined the cause of death was "asphyxia due to neck and torso compression," indicating that pressure applied to his body prevented him from breathing.
The ruling contradicts initial accounts provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On Jan. 9, the agency stated Lunas Campos died following "medical distress." A week later, ICE told the Associated Press that the death was a suspected suicide and that personnel had attempted life-saving measures.
The agency’s shift in narrative followed a report by the Washington Post, which cited a recorded conversation between the medical examiner’s office and the victim's daughter suggesting a homicide ruling was imminent.
The backstory:
Lunas Campos, who had a history of anxiety and bipolar disorder, was a convicted felon and registered sex offender. He had lived in Rochester, New York, for nearly 20 years before being detained in July 2025.
Although a judge had ordered his deportation two decades ago, the federal government was previously unable to secure the necessary travel documents to return him to Cuba.
Dig deeper:
His death is the second of three recorded in recent months at Camp East Montana, a temporary facility erected last summer on the Fort Bliss Army base. With a 5,000-person capacity, the site has become the nation's largest immigration detention center amid a surge in enforcement and deportation efforts.
The facility has been under increased scrutiny following other fatalities:
- Dec. 3: Francisco Gaspar-Andres, 48, of Guatemala, died of suspected organ failure. An autopsy is pending.
- Jan. 14: Victor Manuel Diaz, 34, of Nicaragua, was found unresponsive in his room in what ICE officials described as a potential suicide.
Additionally, a fourth detainee, 42-year-old Luis Gustavo Núñez of Honduras, died of heart complications on Jan. 5 at a separate facility near Houston.
Lunas Campos was among the first group of detainees moved to the El Paso tent camp in September. He is survived by four children.
The Source: Information in this article is from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Associated Press, the Texas Tribune, and the Washington Post.