The death of a Cuban migrant held at a US immigration detention camp in Texas may be investigated as a homicide after the local medical examiner reportedly found the preliminary cause to be 'asphyxia due to neck and chest compression', according to the Washington Post.
Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, died on 3 January while in custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Camp East Montana, a tent facility at the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso. He had been arrested in July last year and was described by the Department of Homeland Security as one of the 'worst of the worst' due to prior convictions for child sexual abuse, firearm possession and aggravated assault.
Witnesses in detention with Lunas Campos told the Washington Post a different story. Santos Jesus Flores said he saw five guards choking the man as he struggled after resisting being placed in segregation because he had not received his medications. Flores reported hearing Lunas Campos repeatedly say in Spanish that he could not breathe.
ICE initially stated that Lunas Campos died after 'experiencing medical distress' and had been placed in segregation after becoming 'disruptive while in line for medication'. However, after reports of a possible homicide classification, the Department of Homeland Security claimed the detainee had attempted suicide and 'violently resisted' officers, a claim not included in the original statement.
Lunas Campos was one of four ICE detainees who died in the first ten days of 2025, which became the agency's deadliest year in over two decades. At least two deaths have been linked to the Fort Bliss camp, which has faced criticism from human rights groups over conditions.
