By Trendsetter Tribune 
A second man has died within two weeks at a U.S. immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), intensifying scrutiny of conditions inside federal immigration custody.
ICE said Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old man from Nicaragua, was found unconscious in his room at the Camp East Montana detention facility on January 14. Medical staff attempted lifesaving measures, and emergency responders were called, but Diaz was pronounced dead shortly after 4 p.m. ICE described the death as a “presumed suicide,” though it said the official cause remains under investigation.
Diaz had been detained days earlier amid the Trump administration’s renewed deportation push. He entered the United States through the southern border in March 2024, was released with a court date, and later ordered removed in absentia in August. ICE took him into custody on January 12 to carry out the deportation.
The death follows that of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban immigrant who died at the same facility on January 3. ICE initially said Lunas Campos suffered medical distress and that staff attempted emergency treatment. However, the local medical examiner later determined the preliminary cause of death was asphyxia due to neck and chest compression, prompting reports that the case could be investigated as a homicide.
A fellow detainee told the Washington Post that he witnessed guards restraining Lunas Campos and heard him repeatedly say he could not breathe before falling silent. ICE has disputed that account. After media reports emerged, the Department of Homeland Security said Lunas Campos had attempted to harm himself and violently resisted officers, a claim not included in ICE’s original statement.
Camp East Montana is a large tent-based detention complex located on the Fort Bliss military base. The facility has drawn criticism from immigrant advocates and civil rights groups over its conditions and oversight.
The two deaths come amid a broader rise in fatalities in immigration custody. Thirty-two people died in ICE detention last year, the highest number recorded in two decades. At least five deaths have already been reported in ICE custody this year.
With two fatalities in the same facility in less than two weeks, pressure is mounting on federal authorities to provide transparent investigations and independent oversight into detention practices, use of force, and medical care inside U.S. immigration facilities.