Overview
- Santos Banegas Reyes, 42, was found unresponsive less than 18 hours after his arrest at the Nassau County Correctional Center, where officials say he had been medically cleared at intake.
- ICE said the official cause remains under investigation but described the preliminary finding as liver failure complicated by alcoholism.
- Relatives dispute that account as “absurd,” say he showed no obvious symptoms before detention, and are pursuing an independent autopsy while seeking a full accounting.
- The New York attorney general’s office, the state Commission of Correction, and Nassau County authorities have opened reviews as required for in-custody deaths.
- Reyes was held under Nassau’s partnership to house ICE detainees in 50 county jail cells reimbursed at $195 per night, and ICE records say he had reentered the U.S. illegally multiple times since 2004.