A staff member for Texas Democratic Representative Veronica Escobar is accused of meeting with detainees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and misleading them about being an attorney to smuggle cell phones. This information was revealed in a letter from Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to Escobar regarding Benito Torres, a senior caseworker on her team.
Lyons stated that Torres falsely presented himself as a legal representative for detainees held at the Camp East Montana facility located at Fort Bliss in El Paso. In the letter, he pointed out that Torres violated critical detention protocols against using cell phones in ICE facilities, had inappropriate meetings with multiple detainees, and misrepresented to ICE officials that his actions had been sanctioned.
“The evidence indicates your employee engaged in deceitful behavior, misrepresenting himself and violating visitation policies,” Lyons wrote. He mentioned that during visits, Torres had claimed to be a lawyer and was caught distributing phones to detainees. According to records, Torres first misrepresented himself in September 2025, with the last instance recorded on January 30.
After a visit where he confronted the facility manager, Torres admitted that he was there as a private citizen rather than in a legal capacity. Lyons also requested Escobar to answer specific questions, such as whether Torres was employed at that time, if he was legally qualified, and if she was aware of his actions.
In response, Escobar characterized Torres as a “dedicated public servant” and expressed that the accusations were unfounded. She criticized ICE’s lack of response to various concerns raised about the facility, including serious issues like sickness outbreaks and inadequate legal representation. Escobar called Camp East Montana “horrible and inhumane,” advocating for its closure, citing the U.S. immigration detention system’s overarching issues as instruments of cruelty.
Similar incidents have occurred in the past, such as when Senator Tammy Duckworth fired an employee for impersonating an attorney to facilitate the release of detainees, drawing attention to the need for strict oversight in these situations.
