Medical examiner set to rule ICE detention death a homicide - despite DHS initial claims: report

The death of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee, who the agency said died after experiencing “medical distress,” is likely to be ruled a homicide, according to a report.

ICE last week announced the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban immigrant, and said “staff observed him in distress and contacted on-site medical personnel for assistance” at the makeshift Texas detention facility Camp East Montana within the Fort Bliss Army base.

Lunas Campos’s daughter alleged that the El Paso County’s Office of the Medical Examiner told her it is likely going to rule his death a homicide, according to The Washington Post.

The newspaper obtained a recording of a conversation between Lunas Campos’s daughter, who was not named by the outlet, and an employee of the medical examiner’s office who allegedly told her a doctor “is listing the preliminary cause of death as asphyxia due to neck and chest compression.”

The staffer allegedly told her, “Our doctor is believing that we’re going to be listing the manner of death as homicide,” pending the results of a toxicology report.

An inmate at the detention center also told the Post he witnessed Lucas Campos struggle with staff before he died.

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Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, told the newspaper that Lunas Campos died after he attempted to take his own life.

“Campos violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take his life,” McLaughlin told the Post. “During the ensuing struggle, Campos stopped breathing and lost consciousness. Medical staff was immediately called and responded. After repeated attempts to resuscitate him, EMTs declared him deceased on the scene.”

The Independent has contacted the department and ICE for further comment.

Lunas Campos is one of four migrants to die in U.S. immigration custody during the first 10 days of 2026.

It follows public anger over an ICE agent’s fatal shooting of Minnesota mom Renee Good, sparking protests and clashes with federal law enforcement in Minneapolis.

ICE said Lunas Campos was paroled into the U.S. in 1996. He was arrested in July last year and had a criminal record than spanned “from at least 1997 through October 2015,” including first-degree sexual abuse involving a child under 11 and aggravated assault with a weapon, according to an ICE news release published last year.

Lucas Campos, a father of three, was placed in segregated housing at the Texas facility after becoming “disruptive,” ICE said in a statement about his death last week. “While in segregation, staff observed him in distress and contacted on-site medical personnel for assistance,” the statement continued. “Medical staff responded, initiated lifesaving measures, and requested emergency medical services. Lunas was pronounced deceased.”

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Fellow inmate Santos Jesus Flores told the Post he witnessed “at least five guards struggling with Lunas Campos after he refused to enter the segregation unit.”

According to Flores, he saw guards “choking Lunas Campos” and heard him repeatedly crying, “I can’t breathe” in Spanish.

The mother of two of Lunas Campos’s children, Jeanette Pagan Lopez, told the newspaper she has been contacted by the FBI, who told her they are investigating the death.

“I know it’s a homicide,” Lopez told the newspaper. “The people that physically harmed him should be held accountable.”

Use of force is permitted against detainees “only after all reasonable efforts to resolve a situation have failed,” according to ICE detention standards.

“Officers shall use only the force necessary to gain control of the detainee; to protect and ensure the safety of detainees, staff, and others; to prevent serious property damage; and to ensure the security and orderly operation of the facility,” the regulations state.