Camp East Montana detainee dies at El Paso hospital of natural causes, ICE says

Update (2:28 PM): El Paso's Congresswoman Veronica Escobar released the following statement addressing the death of Francisco Gaspar-Andres.

“Earlier today, my office was notified by a local stakeholder about the recent death of a detainee at Camp East Montana. ICE did not notify Congress directly until nearly a week after the death and hours after our office inquired with relevant Congressional committees earlier today.

Despite claims from DHS about the inhumane, abhorrent conditions at facilities like Camp East Montana being ‘categorically false,’ my own visits and discussions with detainees prove otherwise. 

Never before has an administration so carelessly made a mockery of the rule of law while hypocritically championing values like law and order. From their denial of true oversight visits to the cruel treatment of detainees at this facility, it is abundantly clear Camp East Montana is not being effectively or humanely operated."

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A Guatemalan migrant that was being detained at Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss died at an El Paso hospital earlier this month.

ICE first announced news of the death of Francisco Gaspar-Andres, 48, today. Gaspar-Andres was pronounced dead at the Hospitals of Providence East at 5:53 a.m. on December 2, 2025. He was admitted to the hospital on November 16. Medical staff attributed Gaspar-Andres' death to natural liver and kidney failure. His official cause of death is still pending, according to ICE.

Gaspar-Andres entered the U.S. by walking from Mexico. He was arrested in Florida on September 1 and handed over to deportation officers. ICE says that Gaspar-Andres was living in the U.S. illegally. Gaspar-Andres was admitted to a Florida hospital on September 4 for medical treatment for alcohol withdrawal, ICE officials say. He was released from the Florida hospital three days later, according to ICE officials.

Immigration officials transferred Gaspar-Andres to Camp East Montana on September 19. Contract medical staff at the camp treated Gaspar-Andres for acid reflux, headaches, heartburn, and indigestion on September 23, September 27, October 2, and October 9, according to ICE.

Gaspar-Andres was treated for lightheadedness, flu-like symptoms, bleeding gums, sore throat, and body aches between November 3 and November 13. He had an immigration hearing on November 14 in which a judge ordered him removed to Guatemala.

"Over the following days, medical staff at Camp East Montana continued to treat him for fever, body aches, productive cough with phlegm, jaundice, severe left lower extremity edema and hypertension," ICE officials explained. "On Nov. 16, he was admitted to The Hospitals of Providence due to low sodium levels. Three days later, hospital medical staff diagnosed him with hyponatremia. Days later, Gaspar-Andres was lethargic and showed poor improvement. He received antibiotics and intravenous fluids."

Gaspar-Andres had an MRI on November 19 that showed he had pansinusitis, a severe inflammation or infection of all four pairs of the sinuses. Hospital staff worked to identify the source of the infection, but ICE officials say the he declined and remained septic. ICE says Gaspar-Andres was intubated on November 21 and was placed on the liver transplant list on November 24. He was also placed on dialysis and palliative care, according to ICE officials. On November 26, Gaspar-Andres was receiving hemodialysis and was visited by a priest, ICE officials say. He entered the Intensive Care Unit due to hypotension during dialysis on December 1.

Gaspar-Andres was then diagnosed with renal failure and internal bleeding. He received supplemental oxygen for comfort, ICE officials say, before he died on December 3.