{"id":69488,"date":"2026-03-19T16:56:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/19\/dem-reps-staffer-repeatedly-posed-as-lawyer-for-detainees-smuggled-phone-into-texas-facility-ice-says\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T16:56:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:56:41","slug":"dem-reps-staffer-repeatedly-posed-as-lawyer-for-detainees-smuggled-phone-into-texas-facility-ice-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/19\/dem-reps-staffer-repeatedly-posed-as-lawyer-for-detainees-smuggled-phone-into-texas-facility-ice-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Dem rep’s staffer repeatedly posed as lawyer for detainees, smuggled phone into Texas facility, ICE says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A staffer for Rep. Veronica Escobar<\/a>, 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons informed Escobar in a letter dated Thursday about Benito Torres, a senior caseworker on the congresswoman’s staff.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

FEDERAL JUDGE TEMPORARILY LIFTS DHS RESTRICTIONS ON LAWMAKER VISITS TO DETENTION FACILITIES<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“The available evidence demonstrates your staffer, a senior caseworker named\u00a0Benito Torres, misrepresented himself as counsel for detainees\u00a0in ICE custody, violated clear detention standards\u00a0and security protocols prohibiting the use\u00a0of cellphones inside ICE facilities, improperly met with multiple detainees<\/a>, and\u00a0falsely claimed to ICE personnel such use had been approved by the agency,” Lyons\u00a0wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“As a result of bringing a cell phone into the Camp East Montana facility, contrary to facility visitation policy, Mr. Torres\u2019 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.”<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

DHS TORCHES ‘BAMBOOZLED’ DEMS FOR CALLING ICE CRACKDOWN \u2018VICIOUS LIES\u2019<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lyons also asked Escobar if she condones such behavior and whether she will hold Torres accountable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement to Fox News, Escobar described Torres as “a dedicated public servant” and “Army veteran,” saying the allegations against him were “unfounded.”<\/p>\n

“It is worth noting that\u00a0ICE has refused to\u00a0respond to\u00a0multiple\u00a0letters I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0“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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Escobar has called Camp East Montana<\/a> “disastrous and inhumane” and has demanded that it be shut down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The United States already has the largest immigration detention network in the world, and these added facilities serve only as tools for the administration\u2019s inhumanity,” she wrote in a March X post on X, in which she criticized the “chronic substandard conditions” at the migrant facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other congressional staffers have tried similar ploys to access ICE facilities in the past. In November, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., fired a staffer<\/a> who claimed to be an attorney for an illegal immigrant in an effort to facilitate his release.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edward York<\/u><\/a> 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0 Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons informed Escobar in a letter dated Thursday about Benito Torres, a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}