Overview
- Staff at the Rio Grande Processing Center found 56-year-old Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias unresponsive during a security check at about 10 a.m. Saturday, performed CPR and called emergency services.
- ICE said Andrade-Covarrubias, who had been detained since June, was declared dead after emergency responders arrived and that the cause of death is unknown while the Webb County Medical Examiner completes an autopsy.
- His daughter says he had a heart condition, diabetes and high blood pressure, that he brought medications into custody which staff would not provide, and that he reported breathing trouble that she says medical staff dismissed.
- This is the seventh person to die in ICE custody in Texas this year and the second death linked to Laredo-area detention facilities, a pattern that has prompted local oversight and questions about detention medical care.
- U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar visited the facility, has sent written questions to ICE, and federal officials and the private operator GEO Group had not immediately replied to requests for comment as investigators continue their review.