21 Oct ICE Stands by Care of Detainee Who Died at Laredo Processing Center as Family Disputes Account

ICE says it stands by the medical care it provided to Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, a 56-year-old detainee who died Saturday at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo, while his daughter says staff ignored his health complaints and wouldn’t give him his medication.

Andrade-Covarrubias lived in Dallas and painted apartments and townhomes for a living. U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested him June 26 at the Juárez-Lincoln Bridge as he tried to enter the country, then handed him to ICE, which began removal proceedings, the Laredo Morning Times reported. Online records cited by The Texas Tribune show a hearing before an immigration judge was set for Nov. 2. His daughter told the Tribune that he made frequent trips to Mexico to work on a house he was building there and planned to move back. He had three children.

In a statement Tuesday, ICE said staff found him unresponsive in bed at 9:48 a.m. Saturday, tried to revive him and called Laredo Fire Department paramedics. He was declared dead at 10:10 a.m., and the cause isn’t known. An autopsy by the Webb County Medical Examiner’s Office is pending. ICE said it notified the Homeland Security inspector general and its internal Office of Professional Responsibility, as policy requires.

The agency said he had diabetes, high blood pressure and anxiety on record and saw medical professionals while in custody. It described its standard procedures: screenings for medical, dental and mental health needs within 12 hours of arrival, a complete health assessment in the first two weeks, and appointments and emergency care at any hour.

His daughter, Estefani Andrade, 29, told the Tribune that he also had heart trouble and that the facility didn’t give him the medication he came with. She said he complained to the family of a cough, labored breathing and chest tightness, and that medical staff waved off his concerns. He had been in the hospital with COVID-19 in 2021, she said, and it left lasting effects.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said Monday he wants to know what happened. He toured the facility and spoke with staff, who couldn’t share details about the case while it’s under investigation, then sent ICE seven written questions. They ask whether Andrade-Covarrubias requested medical care in the 72 hours before he died, what treatment and medication he received and whether staff followed medical and emergency-response protocols. Cuellar also asked about staffing, detention standards and Andrade-Covarrubias’ residency status. As of Tuesday, ICE hadn’t answered the questions or addressed the family’s specific claims, the Laredo Morning Times reported.

ICE did speak to his status, saying he was a lawful permanent resident but that it concluded he got his green card through fraud by leaving a 2004 theft arrest off his paperwork. Andrade told the Tribune that her father did disclose his record and that immigration officials approved his application anyway.

He is the second detainee to die in ICE custody in Laredo this year and the seventh in Texas, according to the Tribune. Felix Alcorta-Rodriguez, 63, died June 19 at the Webb County Detention Center, where he was found unresponsive.