A staff member working for Texas Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar is accused of meeting with detainees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and claiming to be an attorney at least 11 times. The objective, allegedly, was to smuggle cellphones into the detention center.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons sent a letter to Escobar regarding Benito Torres, a senior caseworker on her staff. According to Lyons, Torres misrepresented himself as a legal advocate for detainees held at the Camp East Montana facility in Fort Bliss, El Paso.
Lyons highlighted that evidence shows Torres improperly claimed to be an attorney, breached clear detention standards and security protocols related to cellphone usage in ICE facilities, and held unauthorized meetings with several detainees. He even misled ICE officials, asserting that the detainees’ cellphone usage had been sanctioned by the agency.
“As a result of Mr. Torres’ actions—bringing a cellphone into the facility, falsely identifying himself as an attorney, and having inappropriate interactions with detainees—he is banned from entering any ICE facility,” Lyons noted in his letter.
Documentation indicates that Torres referred to himself as a “lawyer” during visits to see “clients.” Records show that he first misrepresented himself as a legal authority in September 2025, with the most recent incident occurring on January 30. Notably, during this visit, Torres confronted the facility’s manager, clarifying that he was there as an individual and not in a legal capacity, after staff observed someone distributing phones to detainees.
Lyons has requested a written response from Escobar to several questions. This includes inquiries about whether Torres was employed by her during his visit to the ICE facility, if he was indeed a qualified attorney, and whether she was aware of his alleged behavior. Additionally, he asked whether Escobar would condone such actions and hold Torres accountable.
Escobar’s office has been contacted for comments. Previously, she described Camp East Montana as “horrible and inhumane” and has called for its closure. In a recent social media post, she criticized the “chronically substandard conditions” in immigration detention facilities, noting that the U.S. already has the largest immigrant detention network in the world.
Other congressional officials have made similar attempts to access ICE facilities in the past. For instance, in November, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., dismissed an employee who claimed to represent illegal immigrants to facilitate their release. This individual had asserted he was legally representing a Mexican national with a criminal record.
