48-year-old Guatemalan immigrant dies while being detained at Camp East Montana immigration detention facility in El Paso
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A Guatemalan immigrant who was being held at ICE’s Camp East Montana immigration detention facility has died at an El Paso hospital.
Francisco Gaspar Andres, 48, was pronounced dead on Dec. 3, according to an ICE news release. The official cause of death has not yet been determined, but authorities said it was likely due to “natural liver and kidney failure.”
He was admitted to Providence East Hospital on Nov. 16, but was treated by medical staff at the jail on Sept. 27, Oct. 2, and Oct. 9.
Gaspar Andrés was arrested along with his wife in Florida on September 1st. He was transferred to Camp East Montana on September 19 and was scheduled to be deported to Guatemala.
At least 25 immigrants died in immigration detention facilities across the United States in 2025, according to Congressional Oversight Statistics.
Camp East Montana first began accepting deportees on August 1st. The detention facility is scheduled to be the largest in the country.
This is the first confirmed death at Camp East Montana, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar.
US Rep. Veronica Escobar condemns migrant death
Escobar, an El Paso Democrat, criticized the Trump administration for not informing government offices of Gaspar Andres’ death after his death, despite an earlier investigation before a Congressional committee early Tuesday, Dec. 9.
“While the Department of Homeland Security’s claims about inhumane and abhorrent conditions at facilities like Camp East Montana are ‘completely false,’ my own visits and discussions with detainees prove otherwise,” Escobar said in a statement. ”Never before has an administration so carelessly mocked the rule of law while hypocritically defending values such as law and order. From their denial of genuine surveillance visits to the cruel treatment of detainees at this facility, it is clear that Camp East Montana is not being run effectively and humanely. ”
Escobar continued to sound the alarm about conditions inside the Camp East Montana facility.
Ahead of her latest parliamentary oversight visit on Dec. 1, she expressed frustration that none of the issues she raised, including the lack of health care, had been resolved.
Jeff Abbott covers the perimeter for the El Paso Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at jdabbott@usatodayco.com. @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or Bluesky @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social.
