{"id":471259,"date":"2026-10-20T05:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T05:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/471259\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T05:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T05:06:16","slug":"ice-identifies-dallas-man-who-died-at-laredo-detention-facility-disputes-familys-claims-about-medical-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/471259\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE identifies Dallas man who died at Laredo detention facility, disputes family’s claims about medical care"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says a 56-year-old Dallas man who died at a detention facility in Laredo<\/a> over the weekend received proper medical care while in custody, contradicting allegations from his family that his medical needs were ignored.<\/p>\n

Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias was found unresponsive in his bed at the Rio Grande Processing Center at about 9:48 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, according to a statement released Monday by ICE.<\/p>\n

Security staff immediately began lifesaving measures and called emergency medical services. Despite those efforts, Andrade-Covarrubias was pronounced dead at 10:10 a.m., ICE said.<\/p>\n

His cause of death remains unknown pending an autopsy.<\/p>\n

In its statement, ICE said Andrade-Covarrubias had a documented medical history of diabetes, high blood pressure and anxiety. The agency maintained he received appropriate medical attention while detained.<\/p>\n

“While in custody, Andrade received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals,” ICE said.<\/p>\n

However, his daughter, Estefani Andrade, told The Texas Tribune<\/a> her father had complained about his health and struggled to get medical attention during his months in detention.<\/p>\n

According to the Tribune, Andrade said her father had diabetes, high blood pressure and a heart condition. She alleged that detention center staff would not give him medication he had brought with him when he was detained.<\/p>\n

She also told the Tribune that her father developed a cough and complained of difficulty breathing and tightness in his chest, but felt his concerns were being dismissed by medical staff.<\/p>\n

Andrade-Covarrubias had been hospitalized with COVID-19 in 2021, which his daughter said had lasting effects on his health, according to the Tribune.<\/p>\n

ICE did not specifically address those allegations in its statement.<\/p>\n

WFAA asked ICE when Andrade-Covarrubias last received medical treatment and whether he had been given medication for his documented health conditions. An ICE spokesperson responded, “We don’t have anything further beyond the news release, at this time.”<\/p>\n

ICE details man’s detention history<\/p>\n

According to ICE, Andrade-Covarrubias was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on June 26 while attempting to enter the United States at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo.<\/p>\n

The agency said Andrade-Covarrubias was a lawful permanent resident but had obtained that status through fraudulent means by failing to disclose a previous arrest during the immigration review process.<\/p>\n

ICE said his criminal history included a July 27, 2004, arrest for theft of property. The agency did not provide information about whether that arrest resulted in a conviction.<\/p>\n

Andrade-Covarrubias was transferred to ICE custody while awaiting removal proceedings before an immigration judge, according to the agency.<\/p>\n

His daughter told the Tribune that her father had lived in Dallas for decades, worked as a contractor painting apartments and townhomes, and had three adult children who were born in the United States.<\/p>\n

She said he had been traveling between the United States and Mexico while building a home in Mexico, where he eventually hoped to return.<\/p>\n

During video calls while he was detained, his daughter said she noticed that he had lost weight and appeared different than before his detention, the Tribune reported.<\/p>\n

Death under investigation<\/p>\n

ICE said it notified the Department of Homeland Security, the ICE Office of Inspector General, the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility and the Mexican Consulate following Andrade-Covarrubias’ death.<\/p>\n

The Webb County Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy, according to the Tribune.<\/p>\n

Andrade-Covarrubias is the seventh person to die in ICE custody in Texas this year, according to the Tribune. He is also the second person to die at an ICE detention facility in Laredo in 2026.<\/p>\n

The Tribune previously reported that Felix Alcorta-Rodriguez, a 63-year-old Mexican man, died June 19 after being found unresponsive at the Webb County Detention Center.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, told the Tribune he planned to visit the Rio Grande Processing Center on Sunday to ask questions about Andrade-Covarrubias’ death and the medical care provided at the facility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says a 56-year-old Dallas man who died at a detention facility in Laredo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-471259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}