EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — Community organizations are holding a vigil on Friday in downtown El Paso to honor two detainees who died while in federal custody at Camp East Montana.
The vigil is being held at San Jacinto Plaza in downtown El Paso on Friday at 5 p.m.
Organized by several advocacy groups, the public vigil aims to commemorate the two deaths at the detention center in El Paso: Francisco Gaspar-Andres, who died from natural causes, and Geraldo Lunas Campos, whose death is currently under investigation.
The vigil, which also aims to call for accountability, will feature key speakers from advocacy groups, including:
-Charlotte Weiss, staff attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project
-Angélica César, Aryeh Neier Fellow at Human Rights Watch
-Rev. Marta Pumroy-Cordero, border mission coordinator at Tres Rios Border Foundation
-Tonya Hall and Danny Rivera from Indivisible the 915.
The vigil, which was planned earlier this week, came just a day after a report from the Washington Post stated that Campos’ death would likely be ruled a homicide.
On Thursday, the Post cited a recording shared by Campos’ daughter, in which an employee from the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner’s Office reportedly told her that the preliminary cause of death was “asphyxia due to neck and chest compression.”
However, this determination is pending the results of a toxicology report.
KFOX14/CBS4 has filed an open records request for the autopsy report of Campos, as the investigation continues.
RELATED: Report: Migrant’s death at Fort Bliss detention center likely ruled homicideMeanwhile, the vigil also comes after El Paso leaders, along with a migrant advocacy group, addressed the recent immigration raids happening in the borderland.
On Friday afternoon, advocacy groups such as the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR), Estrella del Paso and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center held a press conference at the El Paso County Courthouse.
The press conference, held outside the El Paso County Courthouse in Downtown came as a response to what they are calling the “unprecedented ICE aggressions against El Paso border families,” after immigration raids have targeted workers at construction sites in El Paso, Horizon City and Santa Teresa.
RECOMMENDED: El Paso leaders against ICE raids: urge accountability, call to actionSign up to receive the top interesting stories from in and around our community once daily in your inbox.