A 63-year-old man died in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Laredo this month, marking at least the fifth death in Texas ICE detention centers this year, a quarter of the nationwide total, as the fatalities have skyrocketed to a record pace not seen in decades.<\/p>\n
According to a notification ICE officials sent congressional members late Wednesday, Felix Alcorta-Rodriguez died in the Webb County Detention Center on June 19. His death has not previously been reported. It is not yet listed on ICE\u2019s website and spokespeople for the agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did congressional representatives who oversee the agency.<\/p>\n
Dr. Corinne Stern, Webb County\u2019s medical examiner, said in a brief interview that although the autopsy and notification of family is ongoing, Alcorta died from \u201cnatural causes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not in any way related to his incarceration,\u201d she said, without providing more details. <\/p>\n
According to the email notifying them from ICE, which is required to do so under federal law, Acorta entered the U.S. without inspection at an \u201cunknown date and time.\u201d ICE arrested Alcorta following his release from Webb County Jail on June 16. The Laredo Police Department had detained him the previous month on an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court for a 2018 driving while intoxicated charge. Alcorta has previous arrests for unauthorized use of a vehicle, unauthorized disposal of a lead acid battery and drunken driving.<\/p>\n
The email said that Alcorta was found \u201cunresponsive at 9:13 p.m\u201d on June 19. Detention staff called medical emergency providers and began \u201clifesaving measures.\u201d He was rushed by an ambulance to the Laredo Medical Center and pronounced dead at 10:02 p.m. His official cause of death is currently pending an autopsy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile in custody he received medical care and was seen by medical professionals,\u201d according to the notification ICE sent congress. <\/p>\n
A Laredo police department spokesperson confirmed Alcorta\u2019s previous arrests. His recent arrest was the result of an outstanding warrant from the sheriff\u2019s office for drunken driving in 2018. Webb County Judge Tino Tijerina said he was not familiar with the case. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo, did not immediately respond to questions. <\/p>\n
The death marks the latest in ICE detention in Texas, which has been home to at least a quarter of the deaths in ICE custody since Trump took office last year. <\/p>\n
It also comes as the Webb County Detention Center, where Alcorta was detained, has come under some recent criticism. An ICE report this February<\/a> found that the facility had at least nine violations for providing proper care in the span of the three-day visit. The facility is operated by CoreCivic, which did not immediately respond to questions. About a third of those complaints related to concerns of improper medical care. Among the allegations was that staff did not properly check on inmates for concerns about suicide or sufficiently care for pregnant women.<\/p>\n Such complaints have ramped up in Texas this year. In the span of six weeks <\/a>between December and January, for example, six people died while detained by ICE in Texas \u2014 three of them at El Paso\u2019s Camp East Montana. <\/p>\n The deadly period began with a 48-year-old Guatemalan, Francisco Gaspar-Andres, who ICE said<\/a> died last December of liver and kidney failure after being hospitalized for more than two weeks following detention. His relatives have disputed ICE\u2019s characterization that he died of natural causes. But the most controversial case has been that of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban with a criminal history, who died earlier this year at that sprawling and troubled tent camp at the U.S. Army\u2019s Fort Bliss. <\/p>\n Initially, ICE officials said it was a suicide. The local medical examiner later ruled it a homicide involving staff. Lunas Campos\u2019 death remains under federal investigation. <\/p>\n Thirty-two people died <\/a>in ICE custody nationwide last year, surpassing the previous high of 20 in 2005, according to federal data. <\/p>\n Detention facilities are seeing more overcrowding and understaffing<\/a> as the Trump administration ramps up enforcement in the interior of the country, experts said. Unlawful border crossings have plummeted<\/a> due to the administration\u2019s restrictions. Federal data shows that most current ICE detainees are not accused of crimes beyond civil immigration offenses<\/a>. <\/p>\n