ICE Says Nicaraguan Detainee at Fort Bliss Died by Suicide Amid Ongoing Texas Probe

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that 36‑year‑old Nicaraguan national Victor Manuel Diaz, who was detained Jan. 6 during the Trump administration’s Minnesota ICE raids, was found unconscious and unresponsive in his room on Jan. 14 at the Camp Montana East tent facility on the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss base in El Paso, Texas, and "appeared" to have taken his own life. Contract security staff reported finding Diaz, summoned medical personnel who attempted life‑saving measures, and the death remains under investigation by federal authorities, with ICE declining to release further details. Diaz had entered the U.S. nearly two years earlier, was released on parole pending immigration court, failed to appear at an August hearing, and received a final order of removal on Jan. 12, two days before his death, according to ICE. His case is the second reported in‑custody death at Camp Montana East this month, following that of detainee Geraldo Lunas Campos, which a preliminary El Paso County Medical Examiner report attributed to asphyxia from chest and neck compression and classified as a homicide after witnesses said officers pinned him to the floor despite ICE’s earlier suggestion of a thwarted suicide attempt. The cluster of deaths at the Fort Bliss complex — which is being used in Trump’s expanded detention push — is drawing renewed scrutiny from advocates and some lawmakers who have already raised alarms about medical care and use of force in ICE facilities.