EL PASO, TX — A federal judge is set to hear arguments over whether the Trump administration can deport detainees reportedly present when aCuban migrant diedinside aTexas detention facilityearlier this month.
The family ofGeraldo Lunas Campos, a55-year-old Cuban migrant, has filed a "petition to perpetuate testimony" requesting that Santos Jesus Flores, Antonio Ascon Frometa, and several other migrantsremain in the United Statesas the family plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The migrants would be called to testify in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Lunas Campos' family. Senior U.S. District Judge David Briones will preside over the hearing at 1:30 p.m. local time on Jan. 27, at the Albert Armendariz Sr. U.S. Courthouse in downtown El Paso.
Lunas Campos died in custody on Jan. 3 at the Camp East Montana detention center, the largest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in the country. The facility is located on Fort Bliss property in East El Paso near the U.S.-Mexico border.
On Jan. 21, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled Lunas Campos' Jan. 3 death a homicide, theEl Paso Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. The autopsy report showed his cause of death as "asphyxia due to neck and torso compression."
The same day as the autopsy report's release, Briones temporarily blocked federal immigration officials from removing two detainees who said they saw guards choking Lunas Campos.
"There is very strong evidence that the guards at this detention center killed Mr. Lunas Campos," Max Schoening, a lawyer for Lunas Campos' family, said in aninterview with USA TODAY.
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Who is who in the case?
Lunas Campos' three children — Jasmarie Lunas Pagan, Jeraldo Lunas Pagan, and Kary Lunas — filed the petition on Jan. 20. The petition states the family "anticipate bringing, at a minimum, wrongful death and survival actions for negligence, battery, and assault."
Lawyers Max Schoening, Christopher Benoit, and Will Horowitz are representing Lunas Campos' family.
The other "interested party" in the case is the Department of Homeland Security, Akima Global Services, LLC, and Acquisition Logistics, LLC, Briones' calendar filed in the Western District of Texas in El Paso states.
Akima Global Services is a federal contractor that "provides the people, equipment, and processes that safeguard federal buildings, military bases, and detention centers," according to the company's website. They are providing services at the Camp East Montana detention center.
Acquisition Logistics, LLC,was awarded a $1.26 billion contractto construct and operate the El Paso detention facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
No attorneys are listed for the three "interested party." The Acquisition Logistics contract has not been made public.
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Lunas Campos dies at Camp East Montana
At the time of Lunas Campos' death, he had been held at Camp East Montana for nearly four months. In a Jan. 9 news release, ICE said Lunas Campos was pronounced dead after "experiencing medical distress."
Lunas Campos allegedly became "disruptive" while in line for medication, according to ICE. He was placed in segregation, where "staff observed him in distress and contacted on-site medical personnel for assistance," the agency said.
Medical staff responded, but Lunas Campos was pronounced dead at the facility, ICE said. The agency said an investigation into the death is being conducted, and ICE officials later alleged that Lunas Campos attempted suicide and security staff tried to save him.
But according to the autopsy report released by the county medical examiner's office, Lunas Campos became "unresponsive while being physically restrained by law enforcement." He had "scattered superficial abrasions" all over his body, the report added.
The homicide finding by the medical examiner's office is not a legal finding and does not mean criminal charges will be filed against those involved in the incident. Federal Bureau of Investigation officials have declined to comment on whether they are conducting an investigation.
Family, witnesses claim ICE officers killed Lunas Campos
Lunas Campos' family claimed in the petition that witness accounts show that he was being choked by detention officers and begging for help.
Flores told the Washington Postthat he witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos as he repeatedly said in Spanish, "no puedo respirar," meaning "I cannot breathe" in English, the petition states. Flores added that after hearing Lunas Campos say he could not breathe, he could no longer hear his voice.
Frometa said he saw Lunas Campos ask guards for his medication, but they refused to give it to him, according to the petition. The guard allegedly threatened Lunas Campos that they would take him to solitary confinement, Frometa said.
Flores and Frometa were allegedly targeted for deportation after speaking with the Post, the petition states. Brionesgranted a temporary restraining orderon Jan. 21, blocking the Trump administration from deporting Flores and Frometa.
An amended petition filed by the family's attorneys on Jan. 26 identified several other migrants — Henry Negrin Bolaño, Jenrry Melendez, Mayron Pazpuerto, and Cobi Ardenis Nazareth — who witnessed the moments leading up to Lunas Campos' death.
The migrants are expected to testify about hearing Lunas Campos begging for his medication, being threatened by guards, telling guards they were choking him, and what appeared to be a struggle between Lunas Campos and the guards, including one migrant saying he heard "what sounded like the slamming of a person's body against the floor or a wall," the petition states.
The petition is asking for all the migrants not to be deported and to allow them to give oral depositions about what they witnessed to the family's attorneys.
The Jan. 27 hearing will focus on arguments on why Briones should extend the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction as the case plays out. Eventually, the attorneys will seek a permanent injunction preventing the migrants from being deported until the wrongful death lawsuit is concluded.
Deaths at migrant ICE detention center in Texas
At least 30 people died in ICE custody last year, the highest level in two decades, agency figures show. In the first 10 days of 2026, four immigrants, including Lunas Campos, died while in federal immigration custody.
Lunas Campos was thesecond migrant to dieat Camp East Montana. There have been at least three deaths at the center since it opened in August 2025.
There have been three migrant deaths at the El Paso detention center since it opened in August. The site continues to generatereports of inhumane conditions and human rights violations, with calls fromU.S. Congress members for it to be shut down.
The most recent death was 36-year-oldVictor Manuel Diaz, a Nicaraguan immigrant, on Jan. 14. Diaz "died of a presumed suicide," ICE said in a Jan. 18 news release.
The first death at the detention center wasFrancisco Gaspar Cristóbal Andrés, 48, a Guatemalan immigrant. He was taken to the hospital on Nov. 16 and died of liver and kidney failure on Dec. 3, according to ICE.
The detention center has drawn repeated allegations from lawmakers and human rights organizations of inhumane conditions and inadequate oversight. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups sent a letter to ICE demanding the closure of Camp East Montana.
Contributing: Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY;Aaron A. Bedoya, El Paso Times; Reuters
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times:Geraldo Lunas Campos case: Death at Texas ICE facility heads to court
