Cuban man beaten by guards at Fort Bliss detention center after requesting food
Jan 3, 2026·Location: El Paso, TX
Country of origin: Cuba

A 31-year-old Cuban man, identified as Ricardo H., reported being beaten by approximately 15 guards at Camp East Montana detention center at Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas, after spending more than 20 hours without food and banging on a metal door to request meals. According to his account documented in a Human Rights Watch and ACLU report, six agents held him down face-first, stomped on his neck, and caused injuries to his ear and collarbone. The 84-page report, based on interviews with 80 people detained at the facility between October 2025 and June 2026, documents a pattern of alleged abuses including raids by masked agents without visible identification, unsanitary conditions, and cases of people detained despite documentation of legal status. The report also documents the death of another Cuban detainee, Gerardo Lunas Campos, 55, on January 3, 2026, whose autopsy determined the cause of death was asphyxiation due to compression of the neck and torso, classified as homicide.
Sources
- Cuban man reports brutal beating at immigration detention center in Texas: "I thought they were going to kill me."
en.cibercuba.com·Jul 17, 2026·archived copy
- Cuban Reports Brutal Beating in Texas Immigration Detention Center: "I Thought They Were Going to Kill Me"
cubaheadlines.com·Jul 17, 2026·archived copy
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