Overview
- Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, died on Jan. 3 at Camp East Montana in Texas, with ICE saying staff saw him in distress after he became disruptive in a medication line and that medical personnel and EMS responded.
- A recorded call reported by The Washington Post quotes an El Paso County medical examiner employee saying a doctor listed the preliminary cause as asphyxia due to neck and chest compression and expects to classify the death as a homicide pending toxicology.
- An internal ICE document described by The Washington Post says Lunas Campos died after a struggle with staff at the detention site.
- A fellow detainee, Santos Jesus Flores, told The Washington Post he saw guards choking Lunas Campos and heard him repeat, “No puedo respirar,” or “I can’t breathe.”
- Camp East Montana has been described as a large tent encampment with numerous detention standard violations, and his death comes as government releases show four people died in ICE custody in the first nine days of 2026 following at least 30 such deaths last year.