A Guatemalan migrant dies in ICE custody in Texas

A 48-year-old Guatemalan citizen, identified as Francisco Gaspar-Andres, died on December 3 in a hospital in El Paso while in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency reported this Tuesday.

The death occurred at 5:53 local time at The Hospitals of Providence East, where he had been admitted on November 16.

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According to ICE, the official cause of death is pending, although medical personnel at the hospital attributed it to natural liver and kidney failure. The agency assured that Gaspar-Andres received “constant and high-quality” medical attention since the deterioration of his health was detected. Gaspar-Andres had been arrested on September 1 in Florida during an operation planned by the state Highway Patrol and agents from Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), the ICE arm in charge of the detention and deportation of migrants. According to immigration authorities, he had crossed the border from Mexico irregularly. After his arrest, he was transferred to the Krome South detention center in Miami, and shortly thereafter was briefly hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal symptoms. On September 19, ICE transferred him to El Paso, where he was held in custody at the Camp East Montana detention facility while his immigration proceedings advanced. Medical records included in the report indicate that he/she received care on various occasions for reflux, allergies, headache, and other ailments. On November 14, an immigration judge ordered his deportation to Guatemala. In the following days, his health deteriorated. He was intubated on November 21 and placed on a liver transplant list on November 24, according to DHS. Organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and local legal groups have been documenting for years conditions they describe as cruel, inhuman, and degrading in immigration detention centers where the Guatemalan was held, including Krome and the ICE mega-camp in Fort Bliss known as Camp East Montana. The testimonies and reports point to a recurring pattern: overcrowding, extreme temperatures, overflowing or dirty sanitary facilities, very limited access to showers, poor nutrition, constant lighting and the widespread use of isolation, along with serious delays or denials in medical and mental health care, in some cases linked to avoidable hospitalizations and deaths in custody. Under the Donald Trump administration, multiple reports from human rights organizations, academics, and media have denounced an increase in the widespread use of immigration detention, including people without serious criminal records or any criminal history. In fiscal year 2025, at least 20 to 22 people have died in ICE custody, making it the deadliest year in two decades, surpassed only by 2004 according to official data.