A 55-year-old Cuban migrant held at the Camp East Montana ICE detention facility on Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, died on the night of January 3 after experiencing what officials described as “medical distress,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement released this week and reported by Spectrum News 1 Texas and other local outlets. Spectrum News 1 reported January 12 that the man, identified by ICE as Geraldo Lunas Campos, is the second person to die in ICE custody at the Fort Bliss complex in just over a month, prompting renewed scrutiny of medical care and detention conditions at the West Texas site.
ICE said Campos became “disruptive” while in line for medication on January 3 and refused orders to return to his dormitory, after which staff placed him in segregation, KFOX14/CBS4 in El Paso reported, citing an ICE press release. Officials told KVIA-TV that staff later observed Campos in distress in the segregation unit, summoned on-site medical personnel, and initiated life-saving measures before emergency medical services arrived, but EMS ultimately pronounced him dead at 10:16 p.m. ICE stated the death remains under investigation and that an autopsy will determine the official cause.
“Medical staff attempted life-saving measures before emergency services were called, but the detainee was ultimately pronounced deceased by EMS personnel.”
*— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement statement, as reported by KFOX14/CBS4 and KVIA-TV *
Second Death at Fort Bliss Camp, East Montana
Local stations KDBC/CBS4 and KFOX14 reported that Campos’ death is the second at Camp East Montana since early December, when 48-year-old Guatemalan national Francisco Gaspar-Andres died after being transferred to an El Paso hospital. ICE told KDBC that medical professionals described Gaspar-Andres’ death as due to liver and kidney failure, though officials said the final cause of death is pending the medical examiner’s report.
According to ICE, Campos had lived in the United States for roughly 30 years after reportedly entering in 1996, and an immigration judge ordered his removal in 2005, but the agency never deported him because it was unable to obtain travel documents from Cuba. ICE listed prior convictions, including a 2009 conviction for sale of a controlled substance, and said he was arrested by ICE officers in Rochester, New York, in July 2025 before being transferred to Camp East Montana in September. Advocates say those details underscore how many long-term residents with criminal records are held in civil immigration detention while removal cases continue.
Cluster of Deaths Raises Broader Concerns
The El Paso death forms part of a cluster of four migrant fatalities in ICE custody between January 3 and January 9 at facilities in Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and an area hospital in Houston, according to agency press releases summarized by Reuters and Prism Media. Those cases included two Honduran men, a Cuban national later identified as Campos, and a Cambodian national held at a federal detention center in Philadelphia. Reuters reported that the deaths occurred amid a rising detained population and followed a 2025 total of at least 30 deaths in ICE custody, the highest annual figure since 2004.
A peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Migration and Health found that ICE reported 12 deaths in detention from fiscal years 2021 to 2023, with cardiac arrest accounting for more than one-third of medical deaths during that period, down from a pandemic-era peak but still raising questions about chronic disease management in custody. Immigration rights groups and legal advocates argue that recent spikes in deaths, including December 2025 being described by researchers as the deadliest month of that year for ICE detention, point to systemic problems in medical screening, emergency response, and facility oversight.
“At least 30 people have died in ICE detention this year, the highest level since 2004.”
*— Reuters reporting on 2025 deaths in ICE custody *
Calls for Transparency and Accountability
Local outlets in El Paso reported that advocacy groups and some elected officials are calling for greater transparency from ICE regarding Campos’ medical history, the circumstances that led to his placement in segregation, and the timeline of the emergency response. In a previous statement on detention fatalities, ICE said the agency “remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments,” emphasizing that every in-custody death triggers internal reviews and notifications to oversight entities.
Nationally, lawmakers who have criticized detention conditions say the latest deaths reinforce demands for increased funding for medical staffing, independent inspections, and alternatives to detention for medically vulnerable migrants. As investigations into the El Paso case proceed, advocates and local community leaders are watching closely to see whether findings prompt policy changes at Camp East Montana and other ICE facilities, or whether the early 2026 pattern becomes another data point in a years-long debate over the human cost of immigration detention in the United States.