Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE concentration camp was homicide
When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the Jan. 3 death of detainee Geraldo Lunas Campos at a Texas detention camp, the agency said “staff observed him in distress,” and it gave no cause of death.
An employee of El Paso County’s Office of the Medical Examiner told Lunas Campos’s daughter this week that, subject to results of a toxicology report, the office is likely to classify the death as a homicide, according to a recording of the conversation.
In the recording, which the daughter shared with The Washington Post, the employee said a doctor there “is listing the preliminary cause of death as asphyxia due to neck and chest compression,” which means Lunas Campos did not get enough oxygen because of pressure on his neck and chest. Pending the results of a toxicology report, the staffer said on the recording, “our doctor is believing that we’re going to be listing the manner of death as homicide.” [Continue reading…]
[U.S. Rep. Veronica] Escobar issued a new call to have the East El Paso ICE detention center shut down.
“I reiterate what I’ve said before: this facility should be shut down and the contract terminated,” Escobar said. “It has never adhered to basic or appropriate standards to ensure the safety and dignity of the human beings in custody and it is clearly a profit-making enterprise for the corporation.”
Escobar has repeatedly reached out to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Director Todd Lyons to provide more information about the contract and the facility’s operations.
“As a member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee for the House Appropriations Committee, I can unequivocally say that DHS is operating with absolutely no regard for transparency, truthfulness or regard for human life,” Escobar said in the statement. “There must be accountability for this and other egregious violations of our values as a nation and the laws DHS is required to follow.” [Continue reading…]