Arizona Congressman Greg Stanton is asking Homeland Security for details about a Haitian man’s death in ICE custody this week.
Emmanuel Damas, 56, was in the process of seeking asylum after entering the U.S. in 2024 on a humanitarian parole program established under the Biden administration.
Presley Nelson, Damas’ younger brother and a U.S. citizen who sponsored Damas for the Biden-era parole program, says he developed a toothache in mid-February. But it took almost a week for him to get it addressed at the Florence Correctional Center — an ICE detention facility run by private, for-profit prison company CoreCivic.
Nelson says his family spent another week trying to get basic information about Damas' whereabouts and condition. He died at a Scottsdale hospital Monday after going into septic shock.
In a letter to DHS, Stanton asks for a list of medical care offered to Damas in detention, communication with his family, a coroner’s report and other details.
Damas had been in ICE custody since September after being arrested on domestic violence charges in Boston. The agency has not acknowledged his death.
Christine Ellis, a nurse and Haitian-born Chandler City Council member, says she learned about Damas’ death from a local Haitian radio station in Phoenix. She’s spent the last few days reaching out to ICE and lawmakers, including Stanton and Republican Congressman Andy Biggs.
She says she’s searching for answers to give Damas’ family.
“I need an answer as to why this man was not put onto a bus with someone to go see a dentist … or [why] the nurse who was working on duty when he said that could not have looked into his mouth to see that it was swollen, there was infection,” she said. “Who was it that was on duty numerous times that he went there and kept crying and saying he's in pain, and no one paid attention to him?”
Neither ICE nor CoreCivic have responded to questions about Damas’ death.
“Once we have information to share, we will be sure you receive it,” ICE spokesperson Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe said in an email.
At least nine people have died in ICE custody so far this year, according to agency reporting. Damas is the 10th, and has not been listed yet.
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