Border Detainee Dies in Cell After Alleged Separation From Wife and Son

HOUSTON—U.S. authorities have confirmed that a Honduran man was found dead in a Texas jail cell of an “apparent suicide” last month, but made no mention of details in a Washington Post report that the man was enraged after his wife and son were separated from him.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a statement Saturday confirming the death of Marco Antonio Munoz. The CBP statement says Munoz was apprehended at the Weslaco, Texas, border station on May 11 and transferred to the Rio Grande Valley immigration processing center. The Post report, citing unnamed Border Patrol agents, said he was with his wife and 3-year-old son and separated from them, but the federal statement made no mention of family members.

The statement says that while Munoz was being processed, he “became disruptive and combative” and was transferred to the Starr County jail. He was found unresponsive in his cell on May 13.

The Trump administration has been sharply criticized for separating families of immigrants arriving in the country illegally.