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An aerial view of the East Montana Detention Facility, the ICE detention center built to house up to 5,000 people, at Fort Bliss in El Paso on Sept. 7, 2025. Credit: Texas Tribune \/ Paul Ratje<\/p>\nAn aerial view of the East Montana Detention Facility, the ICE detention center built to house up to 5,000 people, at Fort Bliss in El Paso on Sept. 7, 2025. Credit: Texas Tribune \/ Paul Ratje<\/p>\n
More than a week after an migrant\u2019s death at an El Paso immigration detention center was ruled a homicide<\/a> by a medical examiner, it\u2019s unclear whether that autopsy will lead to criminal charges or prosecution.<\/p>\n Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban, died earlier this month at Camp East Montana, a massive tent facility at the Fort Bliss Army base that immigrant rights organizations have condemned for having \u201cinhumane conditions.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Lunas Campos\u2019 autopsy, released by the El Paso Medical Examiner last Wednesday, says he died from asphyxia \u201cdue to neck and torso compression,\u201d meaning there was so much pressure on his neck and chest that he couldn\u2019t breathe.<\/p>\n Before Lunas Campos\u2019 autopsy was released, Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a Jan. 9 press release<\/a> said he died after \u201cexperiencing medical distress,\u201d then later said he attempted suicide.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, told The Texas Tribune on Wednesday that \u201cCampos violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take his life. During the ensuing struggle, Campos stopped breathing and lost consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n Homicides are usually prosecuted at the state level, but because the camp is on a military base, El Paso District Attorney James Montoya said it\u2019s unclear whether he can prosecute.<\/p>\n \u201cSuch land is generally within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government, subject to the specific terms of the deed of cession by which the land was acquired,\u201d Montoya said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. \u201cOur Office is continuing to research the matter of jurisdiction.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in El Paso, which has jurisdiction over federal cases, declined to comment on whether it plans to pursue prosecution.<\/p>\n Jenny Carroll, a law professor at Texas A&M University School of Law who specializes in criminal law, said Montoya doesn\u2019t have to defer to federal prosecutors in this case.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they want to prosecute, they prosecute,\u201d Carroll said of local district attorneys. \u201cAnd they work out in court whether or not the federal government actually has sole jurisdiction over the event.<\/p>\n \u201cThe feds can certainly make a choice to prosecute the case, but they can\u2019t claim exclusive jurisdiction when Texas does have these distinct interests that it\u2019s trying to protect,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd the citizens of Texas have an expectation that those interests and rights will be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that deciding whether a case falls under state or federal jurisdiction after a prosecutor takes it to court has been done before. \u201cTexas would not be the first state to do this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Andrew Free, an Atlanta-based lawyer and investigative journalist specializing in ICE custody deaths, agreed: \u201cI\u2019m aware of and have seen records for a number of instances across the country where local prosecutors have investigated, charged, and convicted ICE contractors of crimes at federal facilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Questions about whether the homicide ruling will become a criminal case are unfolding as the Trump Administration\u2019s immigration enforcement strategy has exploded into controversy following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens <\/a>by immigration agents in Minnesota.<\/p>\n Carroll, who has 11 years of experience as a public defender, said a week ago, she would not have been surprised if the federal government dragged its feet on investigating what happened to Lunas Campos.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, we\u2019re seeing a little bit of a shift,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing Donald Trump walking back a bit on some of the rhetoric around the two deaths in Minnesota.\u201d<\/p>\n After the second deadly shooting in Minneapolis last week, President Donald Trump this week signaled interest in easing tensions<\/a>. After recent conversations with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey \u2014 two Democrats who have publicly criticized ICE operations in their state \u2014 Trump said \u201clots of progress is being made.\u201d<\/p>\n The politics around those shootings could impact the federal government\u2019s decisions on how to address Lunas Campos\u2019 autopsy, Carroll said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy general sense is we are in a new era of how the federal government treats its authority over immigration and what it designates as permissible versus impermissible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Because Lunas Campos died in an immigration detention center, most of the witnesses are detainees who could be deported, so any prosecution would need to happen quickly, Carroll said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey may literally leave the United States and no longer be under subpoena power,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Homeland Security attorney Darryl Vereen and the attorney representing Lunas Campos\u2019 family, Christopher Benoit, recently agreed to a preliminary injunction protecting six migrants who witnessed his death from being deported until they can give depositions, according to the El Paso Times<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n A group of migrants told the Associated Press<\/a> that they saw Lunas Campos tackled by guards and placed in a chokehold until he lost consciousness.\u00a0<\/p>\n Santos Jes\u00fas Flores, a detainee at Camp East Montana who said he witnessed the incident through the window of his cell, said Lunas Campos was handcuffed when guards pinned him to the floor, according to the AP.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter he stopped breathing, they removed the handcuffs,\u201d Flores said.<\/p>\n Lunas Campos was the third person to die during Camp East Montana\u2019s first six months of operation, in what became one of the most deadly years in immigration detention facilities in Texas: At least eight migrants died in ICE custody in the state last year.<\/p>\n Lomi Kriel contributed to this report.<\/p>\n Disclosure: Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University School of Law have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0list of them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>| Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tU.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who in his ruling accused the feds of incompetence, ordered that Ramos and his father be release by Tuesday. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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