{"id":130573,"date":"2026-01-20T17:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/130573\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T17:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:12:11","slug":"a-third-immigrant-held-at-texas-detention-center-has-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/130573\/","title":{"rendered":"A third immigrant held at Texas detention center has died"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SanSan Antonio demonstrators voice their anger about ICE detentions during a protest earlier this month. Credit: Sanford Nowlin<\/p>\n

A third undocumented immigrant has died while in an El Paso Texas detention camp overseen by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, this one by apparent suicide, federal authorities confirmed.<\/p>\n

Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, of Nicaragua, died of a \u201cpresumed suicide\u201d on Jan. 14 at Camp East Montana, a massive tent complex at Fort Bliss, a U.S. Army Base in El Paso, ICE officials said in a statement released Sunday. The man\u2019s death remains under investigation.<\/p>\n

Diaz, who was arrested during ICE\u2019s crackdown in Minneapolis, is the third person since December to die while detained in Camp East Montana, which was set up last August to accommodate the Trump administration\u2019s sweeping immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n

Francisco Gaspar-Andres, 48, a Camp East Montana detainee from Guatemala, died Dec. 3 at an El Paso general hospital of what medical staff \u201cattributed to natural liver and kidney failure,\u201d according to an ICE press statement.<\/p>\n

A month later, 55-year-old Geraldo Lunas Campos of Cuba, expired after \u201cexperiencing medical distress,\u201d the agency said in a separate statement. However, the\u00a0Washington Post last week reported<\/a> that Campos\u2019 death likely will be ruled a homicide after a witness at the center maintained they saw guards choke the man to death.<\/p>\n

Diaz entered the U.S. in March of 2024, and an immigration judge ordered him removed last summer, according to ICE\u2019s statement. <\/p>\n

American Civil Liberties Union officials warned the string of immigrant deaths in federal custody \u201cillustrates a broader pattern of unchecked violence and abuse carried out by ICE against members of our communities on the taxpayer\u2019s dime.\u201d The lockup currently holds more then 2,700 people, making it the nation\u2019s largest immigration detention center, and its located on a site once used to intern people of Japanese descent during World War II.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe record breaking 32 deaths in ICE custody last year marked the deadliest year for the agency in nearly two decades,\u201d ACLU Senior Policy Counsel Haddy Gassama said in a statement. \u201cThese deaths in detention facilities, coupled with the continued escalation of violence by federal agents in our streets, paint a grim picture of what happens when a government agency has an astronomical budget and no accountability. We cannot allow these deaths to become daily occurrences or this violence to continue to be inflicted \u2014\u00a0and we need Congress to shut down the Fort Bliss detention camp once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Late last year, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, sent a letter to the Trump White House raising alarms<\/a> about Camp East Montana, adding that detainees have raised concerns about rotten food, inconsistent access to medications and lack of access to recreational areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cConditions at Camp East Montana are dangerous and inhumane; they have been since the facility opened at the beginning of August (when it was still an active construction site), and only seem to be deteriorating,\u201d Escobar said in the letter \u2014\u00a0reportedly the third she\u2019s sent administration officials and received no reply. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is increasingly clear that it is not a safe nor professionally managed facility. Continuing to detain people at Camp East Montana means continually exposing people to risks from\u00a0\u00a0unhygienic conditions, poorly built facilities, and a general lack of security and reliable management.\u201d<\/p>\n

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