Latest scandal to rock Donald Trump’s disgraced band of immigration “enforcers” is one for the history books: after ICE officials floated numerous (apparently false) explanations for the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos while in custody, the El Paso County medical examiner ruled Campos’ death a homicide. From Colleen Deguzman reporting for Texas Tribune:
Geraldo Lunas Campos, who had been detained at Camp East Montana, died from ‘asphyxia due to neck and torso compression,’ according to the autopsy report, meaning that he couldn’t breathe because of pressure on his neck and chest.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a Jan. 9 press release said Lunas Campos died after ‘experiencing medical distress.’ About a week later, ICE told Associated Press that he instead died after attempting suicide and ICE staff attempted to save him.
Colleen Deguzman for Texas Tribune
ICE’s shift in official explanation was reportedly in response to (or to get out ahead of) a report in the Post that cited Campos’ daughter and her conversation with El Paso coroner, which she recorded.
That change came after Washington Post published a story saying the El Paso Medical Examiner was likely to rule his death a homicide. Lunas Campos’ daughter shared a recording of a conversation she had with an employee at the medical examiner’s office with the newspaper. The autopsy report says Lunas Campos became ‘unresponsive while being physically restrained by law enforcement,’ and that his medical records show that he experienced bipolar disorder and anxiety.
Colleen Deguzman for Texas Tribune
That Washington Post story, reported by Douglas MacMillan, cites eyewitness testimony that described a “struggle” with detention-center staff.
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 staffersaid on the recording, ‘our doctor is believing that we’re going to be listing the manner of death as homicide.’
A 55-year-old Cuban immigrant, Lunas Campos died following a struggle with detention staff, according to an eyewitness account and an internal ICE document reviewed by The Post.
Douglas MacMillan for Washington Post
News of Campos’ apparent murder comes just days after Jonathan Ross’ fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, which is still under siege by Trump’s administration. Kristi Noem effectively shut down oversight of DHS and ICE in May 2025, closing many of the investigatory bodies that would, at least in theory, probe malfeasance of agents in their department.
As of late October 2025, more than 4,200 people are unaccounted for inside the DHS/ICE concentration-camp regime. That number is likely much higher today, with an unknown percentage of those missing persons also “unalived” by Trump’s violence-prone mob.
AUTHOR FOOTNOTE
As I reported here in May 2025, acting-ICE director Todd Lyons declared his desire for deportation to “work like Amazon Prime.” A weird homage to logistics, to be sure, not least because even fascist-fluffer Jeff Bezos doesn’t want grossly underpaid delivery workers shooting people in the streets.
As historian Timothy Snyder pointed out at the time, “German business heard a similar pitch in 1940.” Which of course brings us to present day, where Donald’s regime is stacking humans in concentration camps with insufficient facilities and scant access to healthcare; snatching/abducting/assaulting U.S. citizens, including members of congress; and murdering inconvenient people in cold blood on American streets.
They will claim in the coming days that “Geraldo Campos was a bad dude. why are you liberals defending a sex offender?” Our immediate reply should be something along the lines of “well guys, Donny has a starring role in Epstein Files so that’s like saying Dear Leader should be offed for diddling kids.”
