Cuban immigrant ‘choked to death’ in Texas jail

This Aug. 7, 2025, satellite image shows construction of large white tents for a new immigrant detention center at Fort Bliss, a U.S. Army base outside El Paso, Texas. (Planet Labs via AP, File)

WASHINGTON—A Cuban immigrant died in a Texas immigration detention facility earlier this month during an altercation with guards, and the local medical examiner has indicated that his death will likely be classified as a homicide.

The federal government has provided a differing account surrounding the Jan. 3 death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, saying the detainee was attempting suicide and staff tried to save him.

A witness told The Associated Press (AP) that Lunas Campos died after he was handcuffed, tackled by guards and placed in a chokehold until he lost consciousness.

The immigrant’s family was told by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday that a preliminary autopsy report said the death was a homicide resulting from asphyxia from chest and neck compression, according to a recording of the call reviewed by the AP.

The death and conflicting accounts have intensified scrutiny into the conditions of immigration jails at a time when the government has been rounding up immigrants in large numbers around the country and detaining them at facilities like the one in El Paso where Lunas Campos died.