The black hole of Camp East Montana: Three deaths in 44 days at the largest migrant detention center in the US

Camp East Montana, the largest migrant detention center in the United States when at full capacity, has become the epicenter of a humanitarian crisis. This week, it was revealed that a third detainee has died in just 44 days at the hastily erected tent complex — operated by a private firm with no prior experience in the field — in the desert surrounding the Fort Bliss military base outside El Paso, on the Texas-Mexico border. The death, which occurred last week, follows two others that have prompted allegations of medical negligence, mistreatment, excessive use of force by staff, and, in one case, suspicions of homicide.

The most recent victim was identified as Víctor Manuel Díaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan. According to a statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Díaz was found unconscious in his room and pronounced dead at 4:09 p.m. last Wednesday. Authorities have declared it a suicide, although the official cause of death remains under investigation. Díaz had recently been detained in Minneapolis during the large-scale immigration operation that has shaken the city since early January, before being transferred to Texas.

Díaz’s death is in addition to two previous fatalities that have once again highlighted the dire conditions at Camp East Montana, which houses more than 2,900 people, despite having a capacity of 5,000, according to the latest reports. Last December, Francisco Gaspar-Andrés, a 48-year-old Guatemalan, died at Providence East Hospital in El Paso. Authorities stated that the cause of death was still under investigation, although doctors initially attributed it to “natural liver and kidney failure.”

On the other hand, Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban and father of four, died on January 3. The circumstances surrounding his death have been disputed between the official version — which changed over the course of several days — and witness testimonies and the initial autopsy report. ICE initially stated that Lunas Campos had experienced “medical distress” while in isolation after “exhibiting disruptive behavior while waiting in line for medication and refusing to return to his assigned dormitory.” They also claimed that medical personnel initiated life-saving measures, but that Lunas Campos was pronounced dead by emergency medical services. However, after the first allegations of homicide surfaced, the Department of Homeland Security asserted that Lunas Campos had attempted to take his own life and that facility staff tried to stop him.

Testimonies from other detainees tell a different story. A witness told the Associated Press and the Washington Post that Lunas Campos died after being handcuffed, tackled by guards, and subjected to a chokehold until he lost consciousness. His last words were, “I can’t breathe,” Santos Jesús Flores told national media outlets. Furthermore, the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office informed Lunas Campos’s family that a preliminary autopsy report classified the death as a homicide, resulting from asphyxiation by compression of the chest and neck.

Calls for closure of Camp East Montana

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has called for the immediate closure of Camp East Montana, which they describe as “a massive tent encampment on Fort Bliss military base.” Haddy Gassama, the organization’s senior policy advisor, called the deaths “preventable” and said they illustrate “a broader pattern of unchecked violence and abuse.”

According to the ACLU, the 32 deaths in ICE custody during 2025 marked the deadliest year for the agency in nearly two decades. Gassama added that these incidents, along with the continued escalation of violence fueled by the presence of federal agents on the streets, paint a grim picture of what happens “when a government agency has an astronomical budget and no accountability.”

In December, the ACLU and other human rights groups sent a letter to ICE demanding an end to immigration detention at Camp East Montana. In the letter, they described a pattern of abuses, including beatings and sexual assault by officers against detained immigrants. They also mentioned coercion through threats to force deportations to third countries, medical neglect, hunger and food shortages, and denial of access to legal counsel.

Meanwhile, ICE’s statement regarding the death of Víctor Manuel Díaz asserts that the agency “is committed to ensuring that all individuals in custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments.” According to the document, detainees must receive medical, dental, and mental health evaluations within 12 hours of arrival at each detention center. Furthermore, they must be guaranteed a comprehensive health assessment during the first two weeks of their incarceration, as well as access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. “At no time during detention is emergency care denied to a detained undocumented alien,” the statement adds. The three deaths under unclear circumstances cast doubt on the government’s claims.

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