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An immigrant from Nicaragua was discovered dead last week at a Texas immigration detention center, according to federal authorities.
Victor Manuel Diaz is believed to have died by suicide on Wednesday at the extensive tent facility located at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss base in El Paso, as reported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). An investigation by federal officials into the circumstances surrounding his death is ongoing.
This incident follows a previous case at the same facility earlier this month, where another detainee died while staff attempted to prevent a suicide attempt. However, a fellow detainee claimed that at least five officers were restraining the handcuffed individual, with one officer allegedly holding an arm around the detainee’s neck.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Please be advised that this report contains discussions of suicide. For those in need of support, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. can be reached by calling or texting 988.
ICE disclosed that Diaz was detained during a federal immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota on January 6 and subsequently transferred to Texas.
Diaz entered the United States in March 2024 and Border Patrol officers took him into custody, He was released on parole pending a court date and a judge ordered him to leave the U.S. in an August hearing that Diaz did not attend, ICE said.
Diaz was given a final order for removal on Jan. 12, two days before he was found unconscious in his room, authorities said.
ICE did not release any other details on Diaz’s death. The agency notifies Congress and releases a statement on its website of all in-custody deaths.
Diaz, 36, was being held at Camp Montana East where ICE said another detainee, Geraldo Lunas Campos, died as staff members tried to prevent him from killing himself.
But a preliminary investigation by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office found Lunas Campos, 55, died from asphyxia from chest and neck compression and said the death would likely be classified a homicide.
A fellow detainee told the AP that Lunas Campos was handcuffed and refused to go back into his cell when at least five guards pinned him to the floor. The detainee said at least one of the guards squeezed an arm around Lunas Campos’ neck.
ICE said it is still investigating that death.