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Emmanuel Damas, 56, told medical personnel at the Florence
Correctional Center that he had a toothache in mid-February, but
he was not sent to a dentist, said Damas’ brother, Presly
Nelson.
Nelson believes the staff at the facility did not take his
brother’s complaints seriously even though it was a treatable
condition. Nelson said he would expect such a death in countries
with less access to health care, but not the United States.
“As a country — I’m an American now — I think we can do better
than that," Nelson said.
Damas is among at least nine people who have died in Immigration
and Customs Enforcement custody this year.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond
to emails seeking comment. ICE had said it hoped to issue a news
release Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, ICE officials announced the death of Mexican
national Alberto Gutierrez-Reyes, who had been in a California
ICE detention center and died in the hospital Feb. 27 after
reporting chest pain and shortness of breath.
Chandler City Council member Christine Ellis, a Haitian American
who is a registered nurse, said she was contacted by Damas’
family after his death.
“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.
Damas was taken into ICE custody in September and was soon
transferred to the medium-security Florence Correctional Center,
where he was held for several months, including after his asylum
application was denied, Ellis said.
CoreCivic, a for-profit corrections company that runs the
Florence facility, deferred comment to ICE.
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Associated Press reporter Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City
contributed.
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