Nicaraguan Man Dies in ICE Custody in Texas After Being Detained in Minnesota
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed on Sunday the death of a 36-year-old Nicaraguan migrant who was in its custody, becoming the sixth death recorded in immigration detention centers so far in 2026 and the third to occur at the same facility in Texas.
According to the official statement, Víctor Manuel Díaz died on January 14 at the Camp East Montana facility in El Paso, Texas. ICE reported that the death was due to an “apparent suicide,” although it clarified that the official cause remains under investigation.
According to the agency’s account, contracted security personnel found Díaz unconscious in his room. Neither the center’s medical staff nor the emergency services that subsequently arrived were able to revive him.
Detention and Immigration Process
Díaz had been arrested by ICE agents on January 6 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after it was determined that he was in the country illegally. The agency indicated that the Nicaraguan citizen entered the United States in March 2024, was initially detained by the Border Patrol, and then released on parole after a court proceeding.
Subsequently, an immigration judge ordered his deportation in the summer of 2025, a decision that ICE executed a week after his arrest in Minneapolis, transferring him to the detention center in Texas.
In its statement, ICE reiterated that it “is committed to ensuring that all individuals in custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments,” assuring that comprehensive medical care is provided throughout the detainees’ stay.
NGOs Denounce Pattern of Abuses and Demand Closure of the Center
Díaz’s death has reignited criticism against Camp East Montana, a facility whose closure has been repeatedly requested by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The human rights organization points out that this facility has been the subject of multiple allegations of abuse and neglect.
This death adds to that of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban migrant who died on January 9 while in custody at the same facility. ICE stated at the time that Lunas suffered an unspecified medical problem, although it acknowledged that he had previously been placed in isolation after an incident while waiting to receive medication.
However, the ACLU maintains that Lunas’s death may have been a homicide by asphyxiation, citing the testimony of a witness who claimed to have seen guards strangle him. To date, ICE has not released the final results of the investigation into this case.
An alarming history
“Geraldo Lunas Campos’s death is part of a broader pattern of systemic violence and abuse,” said Haddy Gassama, senior policy advisor at the ACLU. The activist noted that 32 deaths occurred in ICE custody in 2025, making it the deadliest year for the agency in almost two decades.
The organization also sent a formal letter to ICE demanding the immediate closure of Camp East Montana, citing allegations of beatings, sexual abuse, medical neglect, starvation, insufficient food, and denial of effective access to legal representation.
Camp East Montana, located at Fort Bliss, was opened in August 2025 as a tent camp within a military base historically used during World War II for the internment of Japanese American citizens. It currently houses more than 2,700 people, making it the largest immigration detention center in the United States, according to human rights organizations.
