EPISODE · Apr 10, 2026 · 15 MIN
"I Can't Breathe" Deaths Inside America's Immigration Detention System
from The Raid · host John Carlos Frey
On January 3rd, 2026, a 55-year-old man named Geraldo Lunas Campos was standing in line at an immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, waiting for his asthma medication. He never got it. Instead, he was taken to a solitary confinement cell, held down by guards, and died. He said "I can't breathe" — in Spanish — more than once. The government said he tried to kill himself. The county medical examiner said otherwise. The official cause of death: asphyxia due to neck and torso compression. Manner of death: homicide. He is one of 47 people who have died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since January 2025 — the deadliest period in the history of the American immigration detention system in more than two decades. In this episode of The Raid, investigative journalist John Carlos Frey goes inside the numbers, the names, and the cover stories. From Geraldo Lunas Campos to Roxsana Hernández — a transgender asylum seeker beaten in a New Mexico private prison — to a 19-year-old indigenous Mexican teenager who died weeks after being detained on charges his family says were fabricated, Frey documents a pattern of medical neglect, physical abuse, deliberate obstruction, and institutional impunity that spans administrations and has never been fully reckoned with. The Raid is independently produced and available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Audible, and all major platforms. New episodes every week. Visit https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates"). The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
What this episode covers
On January 3rd, 2026, a 55-year-old man named Geraldo Lunas Campos was standing in line at an immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, waiting for his asthma medication. He never got it. Instead, he was taken to a solitary confinement cell, held down by guards, and died. He said "I can't breathe" — in Spanish — more than once. The government said he tried to kill himself. The county medical examiner said otherwise. The official cause of death: asphyxia due to neck and torso compression. Manner of death: homicide. He is one of 47 people who have died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since January 2025 — the deadliest period in the history of the American immigration detention system in more than two decades. In this episode of The Raid, investigative journalist John Carlos Frey goes inside the numbers, the names, and the cover stories. From Geraldo Lunas Campos to Roxsana Hernández — a transgender asylum seeker beaten in a New Mexico private prison — to a 19-year-old indigenous Mexican teenager who died weeks after being detained on charges his family says were fabricated, Frey documents a pattern of medical neglect, physical abuse, deliberate obstruction, and institutional impunity that spans administrations and has never been fully reckoned with. The Raid is independently produced and available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Audible, and all major platforms. New episodes every week. Visit https://theraidpodcast.org/ Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates"). The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.
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"I Can't Breathe" Deaths Inside America's Immigration Detention System
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