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A staffer for Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, allegedly lied about being an attorney at least 11 times for detainees at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in an effort to meet with them and sneak in cell phones.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons informed Escobar in a letter dated Thursday about Benito Torres, a senior caseworker on the congresswoman’s staff.
Lyons said Torres lied about being a lawyer for detainees in ICE custody at the Camp East Montana facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso.
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“The available evidence demonstrates your staffer, a senior caseworker named Benito Torres, misrepresented himself as counsel for detainees in ICE custody, violated clear detention standards and security protocols prohibiting the use of cellphones inside ICE facilities, improperly met with multiple detainees, and falsely claimed to ICE personnel such use had been approved by the agency,” Lyons wrote.
“As a result of bringing a cell phone into the Camp East Montana facility, contrary to facility visitation policy, Mr. Torres’ misrepresentation that he is a licensed attorney to gain access to detainees, his improper meetings with groups of detainees, and his assertions to ICE personnel about the origins of his visit, Mr. Torres is herby [sic] prohibited from accessing any ICE facility.”
An image of a sign-in log shows Torres allegedly claiming to be a “lawyer” visiting a “client.” ICE records show that Torres first misrepresented himself as a legal professional in September 2025, Lyons said. The most recent incident happened on Jan. 30.
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During that visit, Torres was confronted by a facility administrator and admitted that he was not an attorney and was visiting as a private person. The confrontation happened after officials in the facility became aware of someone passing a phone to multiple detainees, the letter states.
Lyons has requested that Escobar provide written responses to several questions, including whether Torres was employed by the legislator on the dates he visited the ICE facility, if he is a licensed attorney and if she was aware of his alleged actions.
Lyons also asked Escobar if she condones such behavior and whether she will hold Torres accountable.
In a statement to Fox News, Escobar described Torres as “a dedicated public servant” and “Army veteran,” saying the allegations against him were “unfounded.”
“It is worth noting that ICE has refused to respond to multiple letters I’ve sent about Camp East Montana regarding deaths, including a homicide; outbreaks of diseases including COVID-19, measles, and tuberculosis; waste, fraud, and abuse; a lack of legal representation or medical care; and so much more,” she said. “This administration has a history of engaging in intimidation tactics against Members of Congress as well as continuously attempting to obstruct our ability to provide oversight.
“I stand proudly by the members of my team who have demonstrated nothing but dedication and integrity to serving our nation and our community,” Escobar added.
Escobar has called Camp East Montana “disastrous and inhumane” and has demanded that it be shut down.
“The United States already has the largest immigration detention network in the world, and these added facilities serve only as tools for the administration’s inhumanity,” she wrote in a March X post on X, in which she criticized the “chronic substandard conditions” at the migrant facility.
Other congressional staffers have tried similar ploys to access ICE facilities in the past. In November, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., fired a staffer who claimed to be an attorney for an illegal immigrant in an effort to facilitate his release.
Edward York claimed he was legally representing Jose Ismeal Ayuzo Sandoval. Sandoval, a Mexican citizen, had a DUI conviction and was previously deported four times to Mexico.
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