The demise of an undocumented immigrant in a Texas detention center is expected to be classified as a homicide following a medical examiner’s conclusion that asphyxia was the cause.
On January 3, Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported the passing of detainee Gerald Lunas Campos, noting in a brief statement that staff had observed him in distress.
According to a fellow detainee, Campos was allegedly choked by guards at the facility. A recent report by The Washington Post indicates that the medical examiner’s findings support these claims.
An individual from the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner reportedly informed Campos’s daughter that his death is likely to be officially ruled a homicide.
During a recorded conversation, the employee mentioned that the doctor had listed the preliminary cause of death as asphyxia due to compression of the neck and chest.
While toxicology results are still awaited, the employee also conveyed that the doctor anticipates the manner of death will be recorded as homicide.
This cause of death suggests Campos failed to get enough oxygen due to pressure on his neck and chest.
But Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary McLaughlin alleged in a statement Thursday night that Campos died after attempting to take his own life.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the death of detainee Gerald Lunas Campos on January 3 in a short statement claiming staff ‘observed him in distress’
At Camp East Montana, where Campos was being held, there are as many as 3,800 detainees, making it the largest ICE detention facility in the nation
‘Campos violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take his life,’ she said.
‘During the ensuing struggle, Campos stopped breathing and lost consciousness. Medical staff was immediately called and responded. After repeated attempts to resuscitate him, EMTs declared him deceased on the scene.’
The Cuban illegal immigrant, 55, was a convicted sex offender and had been arrested in New York in July 2025.
Celebrating his arrest at the time, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security laid out Campos’s criminal history, spanning from at least 1997 through October 2015.
Some of his offenses included first-degree sexual abuse involving a child under the age of 11, aggravated assault with a weapon, criminal possession of a loaded firearm and criminal sale of a controlled substance.
The publication reported Campos had been moved to a segregation unit within the detention facility after becoming ‘disruptive’ on the day of his death.
Santos Jesus Flores, a fellow detainee who was also in the segregation unit, claimed he saw at least five guards locked in a struggle with Campos moments before his death.
He said Campos had been complaining that he didn’t have access to his medication, and that he saw guards ‘choking’ the fellow inmate.
According to Flores, Campos was repeatedly saying ‘No puedo respirar’ – Spanish for ‘I can’t breathe.’
‘He said, ‘I cannot breathe, I cannot breathe.’ After that, we don’t hear his voice anymore and that’s it,’ Flores said.
Shortly after, Flores said medical staff spent about an hour trying to resuscitate Campos before ultimately taking his body away.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security previously laid out Campos’s criminal history, spanning from at least 1997 through October 2015
Meanwhile, ICE said in a statement that staff had observed Campos ‘in distress’ and contact medical personnel, who were unable to save his life and pronounced him dead.
They gave no further detail about his cause of death.
In an internal log detailing the scenes leading up to his death, The Post cited a reference to an ‘immediate’ use of force incident which had no further detail listed.
Campos is the second detainee to die inside the Camp East Montana detention facility, and one of four to die nationwide in 2026.
In 2025, at least 30 people died in detention facilities – the highest annual death count in 20 years.
It comes amid President Donald Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration as he seeks to ramp up deportation efforts across the nation.
At Camp East Montana, where Campos was being held, there are as many as 3,800 detainees, making it the largest ICE detention facility in the nation.
The detention facility near the Mexican border has faced heavy scrutiny amid claims from migrants of substandard conditions and abuse by guards.
ICE tactics have come under heavy scrutiny in 2026 following the death of American mother-of-three Renee Good in Minneapolis last week during ongoing ICE activities in Minnesota
Protesters have taken to the streets amid mass unrest following the death of Renee Nicole Good last week
ICE relies on private detention contractors which are awarded multi-million dollar contracts to run the facilities.
Jeanette Pagan Lopez, who shared two children with Campos, said she had been contacted by the FBI and that an investigation was underway.
‘The people that physically harmed him should be held accountable,’ she said.
‘I know it’s a homicide.’
ICE tactics have come under heavy scrutiny in 2026 following the death of American mother-of-three Renee Good in Minneapolis last week during ongoing ICE activities in Minnesota.
Her death has sparked nationwide protests as critics demand Trump roll back his deployment of ICE agents in sanctuary cities.
Daily Mail has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
