DHS Said The Death Of An ICE Detainee Was a Suicide, But Witnesses Say He Was Choked

Federal authorities and witnesses have offered sharply different accounts of the death of a Cuban immigrant who died while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at a federal detention facility in El Paso earlier this month.

The detainee, Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, died on Jan. 3 at Camp East Montana, a large tent facility on the Fort Bliss military base. His family says witnesses saw guards choke him during a struggle, while the Department of Homeland Security has said he died by suicide after resisting officers' attempts to intervene.

According to a legal filing submitted by his children, two fellow detainees witnessed the moments leading up to Lunas Campos's death, as The New York Times reports. One, Santos Jesus Flores, told attorneys that he saw guards choke Lunas Campos and heard him repeatedly say "I cannot breathe" in Spanish.

Another detainee said he saw Lunas Campos struggle with guards shortly before he lost consciousness. Both witnesses have since received deportation notices, prompting the family to ask a federal court to block their removal so they can testify in a planned wrongful-death lawsuit.

ICE initially said through a statement Lunas Campos died after "experiencing medical distress" and that his cause of death was under investigation, making no mention of suicide. The statement went on to say he had become disruptive while waiting for medication, was placed in segregation, and later showed signs of distress, prompting staff to call medical personnel. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at 10:16 p.m.

After media reports detailed the family's allegations, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The Guardian that Lunas Campos had attempted to take his own life and "violently resisted" officers who tried to stop him.

The family says an employee of the El Paso County medical examiner's office told them the preliminary cause of death was "asphyxia due to neck and chest compression" and that the manner of death was being considered a homicide. A recording of that conversation was shared with reporters but could not be independently verified. The medical examiner's office has said the autopsy report is pending and declined further comment.

Lunas Campos was one of three detainees who have died at Camp East Montana since it opened in August. Human rights groups and local officials have criticized conditions at the facility, while DHS has said claims of inhumane treatment are "categorically false."

"I need some kind of justice," said Jeanette Pagan Lopez, the mother of two of Lunas Campos's children. "I know I can't bring him back."