A Haitian man held for months at an Arizona immigration detention center died at a hospital Monday after a tooth infection was left untreated, his brother said Wednesday. Presly Nelson said Emmanuel Damas, 56, told medical personnel at the Florence Correctional Center that he had a toothache in mid-February but was not taken to a dentist. Nelson said he believed the facility’s staff did not treat his brother’s complaints with sufficient seriousness, and he said he did not expect such a death in the United States.
Nelson said Damas had been taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in September and was soon transferred to the medium-security Florence Correctional Center. He said the facility held Damas for several months, including after Damas’ asylum application was denied. Damas’ brother also linked the death to what he described as a treatable medical condition that was not addressed.
Nelson said he expected the outcome he described in a country with less access to health care, but not in the U.S. “As a country — I’m an American now — I think we can do better than that,” Nelson said.
Chandler City Council member Christine Ellis, who is a registered nurse, said she was contacted by Damas’ family after his death. Ellis said she was “absolutely appalled” that “medical-licensed people” were working at the facility and allowed the situation to develop. “As a medical person, I am absolutely appalled that there were medical-licensed people that were working there and allowed those things to happen,” Ellis said. “It does not make sense to me.”
A report from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office listed Damas’ cause of death as “pending” as of Wednesday. The Associated Press reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. ICE had said it hoped to issue a news release Wednesday.
ICE officials announced earlier Wednesday the death of Mexican national Alberto Gutierrez-Reyes, who had been held in a California ICE detention center and died in the hospital Feb. 27 after reporting chest pain and shortness of breath. The AP reported that Damas was among at least nine people who have died in ICE custody this year, while CoreCivic, which runs the Florence facility, deferred comment to ICE.