Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari says inmates at an Arizona detention facility dispute federal immigration agents’ version of the events leading up to the death of Haitian asylum seeker Emmanuel Damas this month.
Damas was being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Florence Correctional Center. Damas complained of a toothache, but federal agents didn’t treat him appropriately, according to his family. Damas later died at a hospital after developing sepsis, his family says.
In a timeline of his death released by ICE, Damas complained of symptoms on Feb. 19 and was quickly treated.
Ansari says Damas’ fellow inmates, who she visited with during an oversight visit to Florence on Friday, told her Damas first started asking for help Feb. 10, and complained to agents at least seven times before he was finally taken to a hospital.
“The day that Mr. Damas was finally taken to the hospital was because several detainees stood in front of Mr. Damas' cell and demanded that he receive medical attention,” Ansari told reporters after visiting with roughly 30 men being held in Florence. “At that point, detainees reported that he could barely breathe and barely speak,”.
Ansari called for an independent investigation into Damas’ death to show Americans what’s happening inside detention centers.
And she also plans to introduce legislation designed to hold the Trump administration accountable for its relationships with the private prison industry. Ansari cited NBC News, which reported Department of Homeland Security advisor Cory Lewandowski solicited payment from private prisons in exchange for protecting contracts that prison companies hold with DHS.
“I think it's really important that we follow the money when it comes to these contracts. As I have mentioned before, the private prison companies spent a lot of money to get Donald Trump elected and they are clearly profiting off of the cruel and racist mass deportation policy,” she said.
Ansari has also introduced legislation to require reporting from ICE on how inmate injuries and diseases are treated, as well as a bill to strip ICE of its funding.
Ansari’s visit to the Eloy Detention Center and the Florence Correctional Center on Friday were the latest in a series of oversight efforts undertaken by Democratic lawmakers at ICE detention facilities around the country.
She said the inmates are treated like animals and have faced retaliation for speaking out.
“Back when I first visited Eloy, I was told my second visit that there was retaliation to the detainees that chose to speak out because we do come and want to expose to the American people what's really going on in ICE detention centers,” Ansari said.
Based on what she saw and heard in her latest visit, Ansari indicated more medical emergencies are imminent.
“The water from the sinks is chlorinated. Detainees have to fight for ice that they let melt because that is their only source of filtered water,” she said. “A 26-year-old Armenian man we spoke to has been waiting for over a year for dental care. He has a tooth infection and could very well be the next Emmanuel Damas,” Ansari said.
Ansari has repeatedly accused ICE of neglecting the medical needs of inmates, including one of her constituents, a woman called Arbella “Yari” Rodriguez Marquez who has leukemia and is being held at the Eloy Detention Center.
Yari has leukemia. Ansari said Friday that she’s receiving better medication now, but is suffering from new health issues, potentially due to unsanitary living conditions.
-
In a letter to new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Gallego and Kelly say they’re writing to follow up on an original request from February — in which they asked the agency for more details about plans for a warehouse facility in surprise, and an old jail in Marana, just outside Tucson. -
State Sen. John Kavanagh said there already are laws that make it a crime to physically obstruct police who are trying to make an arrest. What's needed, he said, is something to criminalize those who obstruct police by warning those police are seeking. -
Mexico is calling for thorough investigations into the deaths of 15 Mexican nationals in ICE detention or during immigration enforcement action since the start of President Donald Trump’s term. -
Phoenix is responding to a state lawmaker’s call for Arizona's attorney general to investigate a new regulation that restricts ICE’s ability to use city property. -
In an April 7 press release, officials with the city and the Flagstaff Police Department say ICE has confirmed a lease agreement for two suites inside a business complex.
