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Cuban Detainee’s Death at ICE facility Potentially Classified as homicide
A Cuban immigrant detained at a controversial ICE facility at Fort Bliss, Texas, died under circumstances that are being investigated as a potential homicide. The death of Carlos Lunas Campos,34,has drawn scrutiny from human rights groups and sparked conflicting accounts of what transpired.
Conservative media outlets have used Lunas Campos’s death to trumpet what they claim as victories of Trump’s mass deportation campaign.He had prior convictions for child sexual abuse, possession of a firearm, and aggravated assault.
However, a recording reviewed and first reported on by the washington Post, indicates that the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s office informed a member of Lunas Campos’s family that they were preparing to classify the death as a homicide, pending the results of a toxicology report.
Lunas Campos was one of at least five ICE detainees who died while in custody in the first few weeks of 2024,contributing to a concerning trend. 2023 was the agency’s deadliest year in more than two decades. According to a Guardian investigation, December 2023 was the deadliest month, with six fatalities.
He was also at least the second person to die after being housed at the Fort Bliss detention camp, which has repeatedly come under fire from human rights groups for reports of abuse and inhumane conditions. Francisco Gaspar-Andres, a 48-year-old Guatemalan man, died in a hospital after health complications late in 2023.
As of January 16, 2024, ICE officials and the El Paso county Medical examiner’s office had not responded to requests for comment regarding whether Lunas Campos’s death would be officially classified as a homicide. The El Paso Times reported that a representative of the medical examiner’s office stated the autopsy report was still pending and not publicly available.
The ICE press release regarding Lunas Campos’s death states that he was placed in segregation after becoming “disruptive while in line for medication.” Officials said that staff then “observed him in distress and contacted on-site medical personnel for assistance.” He was pronounced deceased by medical responders at 10:16 p.m.
Witnesses detained with Lunas Campos told the Washington Post a different story. Santos jesus Flores, who was detained at the same camp, said he saw five guards choking Lunas Campos as he struggled after resisting being taken to the segregation unit as he didn’t have his medications.
During the struggle, Flores said he heard Lunas Campos repeatedly say in Spanish, “I cannot breathe.”
“He said, ‘I cannot breathe, I cannot breathe.’ After that,we don’t hear his voice anymore and that’s it,” Flores told the Post.
Changes Made & Sources:
* Dates corrected: The original text contained several instances of “2026.” These have been corrected to