3 migrants have died at ICE facility in El Paso
A Nicaraguan immigrant arrested by ICE in Minneapolis has become the third detainee to die at Camp East Montana in El Paso while facing deportation.
A federal judge will hear arguments regarding the potential deportation of migrants who witnessed a death at an El Paso ICE facility.The family of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a Cuban migrant who died in custody, is seeking to prevent the deportation of witnesses for a future wrongful death lawsuit.An autopsy ruled Lunas Campos’ death a homicide caused by “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”
A federal judge is set to hear arguments over whether the Trump administration can deport witnesses to the death of a Cuban migrant at an El Paso ICE detention center.
The family of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban migrant, filed a “petition to perpetuate testimony” requesting Santos Jesus Flores, Antonio Ascon Frometa and several other migrants remain in the U.S. as the family plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The migrants would be called to testify in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Lunas Campos’ family.
Senior U.S. District Judge David Briones will preside over the hearing at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27, at the Albert Armendariz Sr. U.S. Courthouse in Downtown El Paso.
Lunas Campos died in custody at the Camp East Montana detention center, the largest ICE detention center in the U.S. His death was ruled a homicide El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The cause of death was “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression,” the medical examiner’s autopsy report states.
Here is what you need to know before the hearing:
Who is who in the case?
Lunas Campos’ surviving children — Jasmarie Lunas Pagan, Jeraldo Lunas Pagan and Kary Lunas — filed the petition on Jan. 20. The petition states the family “anticipate bringing, at a minimum, wrongful death and survival actions for negligence, battery and assault.”
Lawyers Max Schoening, Christopher Benoit and Will Horowitz are representing Lunas Campos’ family.
The other “interested party” in the case are the Department Of Homeland Security, Akima Global Services, LLC., and Acquisition Logistics, LLC, Judge Briones’ calendar filed in the Western District of Texas in El Paso states.
Akima Global Services is a federal contractor that “provides the people, equipment, and processes that safeguard federal buildings, military bases, and detention centers,” the company’s website states. They are providing services at the Camp East Montana detention center.
Acquisition Logistics, LLC. was awarded a $1.26 billion contract to construct and operate the El Paso detention facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
No attorneys are listed for the three “interested party.” The Acquisition Logistics contract has not been made public.
Lunas Campos dies at Camp East Montana
Lunas Campos died Jan. 3 at Camp East Montana, located on Fort Bliss property in East El Paso. He had been held at the facility for nearly four months.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced Lunas Campos’ death in a Jan. 9 news release. The release claimed Lunas Campos became “disruptive” while in line for medication. He was placed in segregation, where “staff observed him in distress and contacted on-site medical personnel for assistance,” the release said.
Medical staff responded, but Lunas Campos was pronounced dead at the center, the news release states. ICE officials said an investigation into the death is being conducted.
The autopsy report states Lunas Campos became “unresponsive while being physically restrained by law enforcement.”
The homicide finding by the medical examiner’s office is not a legal finding and does not mean criminal charges will be filed against those involved in the incident. FBI officials have declined to comment on whether they are conducting an investigation.
Family, witnesses claim ICE officers killed Lunas Campos
Lunas Campos’ family claimed in the petition that witness accounts show that their father was being choked by detention officers and was begging for help.
Flores told the Washington Post that he witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos as he repeatedly said in Spanish, “No puedo respirar,” meaning “I cannot breathe” in English, the petition states. Flores added that after hearing Mr. Lunas Campos say he could not breathe, he could no longer hear his voice.
Frometa claimed he saw Lunas Campos ask guards for his medication, but they refused to give it to him, the petition states. The guard allegedly threatened Lunas Campos that they would take him to solitary confinement, Frometa said.
An amended petition filed by the family’s attorneys on Monday, Jan. 26, identifies several other migrants — Henry Negrin Bolaño, Jenrry Melendez, Mayron Pazpuerto, and Cobi Ardenis Nazareth — who witnessed the moments leading up to Lunas Campos’ death.
The migrants are expected to testify about hearing Lunas Campos begging for his medication, hearing the guards threaten Lunas Campos, hearing Lunas Campos telling guards they were chocking him, and hearing what sounded like a struggle between Lunas Campos and the guards, including one migrant saying he heard “what sounded like the slamming of a person’s body against the floor or a wall,” the petition states.
Flores and Frometa were allegedly targeted for deportation after speaking with the Washington Post, the petition states.
The petition is asking for all the migrants not to be deported and to allow them to give oral depositions about what they saw to the family’s attorneys.
Briones granted a temporary restraining order on Wednesday, Jan. 21, blocking the Trump administration from deporting Flores and Frometa.
Tuesday’s hearing will focus on arguments on why Briones should extend the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction as the case plays out. Eventually, the attorneys will seek a permanent injunction preventing the migrants from being deported until the wrongful death lawsuit is concluded.
Deaths at El Paso’s Camp East Montana
There have been three migrant deaths at the El Paso detention center since it opened in August. The site continues to generate reports of inhumane conditions and human rights violations, with calls from U.S. Congress members for it to be shut down.
The first death was 48-year-old Francisco Gaspar Cristóbal Andrés, a Guatemalan immigrant. He was taken to Hospitals of Providence East on Nov. 16 and died on Dec. 3. He died because of liver and kidney failure, ICE officials said in a news release.
Lunas Campos was the second migrant to die at the El Paso detention center.
The latest death was 36-year-old Victor Manuel Diaz, a Nicaraguan immigrant, on Jan. 14. ICE announced his death on Sunday, Jan 18. Diaz “died of a presumed suicide,” ICE officials said in a news release.
El Paso County officials perform an autopsy on a body if requested by family, law enforcement or if there are remaining questions on what caused the death.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com.