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The death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban who died while in immigration custody in Texas, continues to shake the immigration detention system in the United States.
This week, a federal judge temporarily blocked the deportation of two detainees who claim to have witnessed the final moments of the life of the Cuban, after an official autopsy determined that his death was a homicide.
According to , Judge Steven Briones ordered to halt the deportation of witnesses on the same day that the county coroner of El Paso concluded that Lunas Campos died from asphyxia caused by neck and torso compression within the Camp East Montana detention center, a private facility located on military grounds at Fort Bliss.
The court's decision reflects the seriousness of the forensic findings and the testimonies that directly contradict the initial account provided by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Two detainees, one Salvadoran and the other Cuban, stated that they saw several guards restraining Lunas Campos while he repeatedly claimed he could not breathe. Days after speaking with the press, authorities attempted to deport them, a move that is now on hold at least until February 4th.
“There is very strong evidence that the guards at this center killed Mr. Lunas Campos,” attorney Max Schoening, legal representative of the family, stated to USA Today. The lawyer also denounced that the official account from the government has changed repeatedly since the death occurred on January 3rd.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security initially claimed that the Cuban experienced a medical emergency. Later, they alleged that he attempted to take his own life and that he violently resisted security personnel. However, the autopsy report and witness accounts suggest a prolonged struggle, involving the use of force, that ended in asphyxiation.
Lunas Campos had been living in the United States for decades and had a final deportation order since 2005, which could not be executed due to a lack of travel documents to Cuba. He was arrested in July 2025 in New York and transferred months later to Camp East Montana, where he died handcuffed, isolated, and far from his family.
Although authorities have emphasized his criminal record, his children have asserted that, beyond his mistakes, he was a father and a human being who died while in state custody. They are now planning to sue federal officials for his death.
The case has once again brought scrutiny to the immigration detention system in the United States, particularly in centers managed by private contractors. Camp East Montana has recorded at least three deaths since its opening, while USA Today warns that the rapid expansion of these facilities has been accompanied by an increase in fatalities in custody.
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