Daughter Says Father Was Denied Medication Before ICE Custody Death; Agency Defends Care

Estefani Andrade says detention staff would not give her father the medicine he brought. She says he had a heart condition, diabetes and high blood pressure. Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, 56, a green card holder, died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Laredo on 17 October. The agency says he received proper medical care.

How he died is not yet known, and a county medical examiner's autopsy is pending. By 20 October, ICE had not publicly answered a congressman's written questions about the treatment and medicine he received. Mexico, where he was born, says it will file a complaint over the death.

What His Daughter Says Happened in Detention

Estefani Andrade, 29, a US citizen, told The Texas Tribune that her father developed a cough, trouble breathing and tightness in his chest while detained. The cough worried the family, she said, because Covid-19 had put him in hospital in 2021 and left lasting effects on his health. He told her that when he sought help from medical staff, 'they would just ignore him.' Her mother is devastated, she added.

Her father had complained of feeling unwell at the centre, she said. His family learned of his death from the Webb County Medical Examiner, not from any federal agency. Andrade-Covarrubias had lived in Dallas for decades, painted apartments and townhomes for a living, and had three adult children born in the US. He hoped to return to Mexico one day and had been making trips there to build a house.

What the Agency Says About His Care

According to ICE, security staff found him unresponsive in his bed at Laredo's Rio Grande Processing Center. Staff declared a medical emergency, but paramedics could not revive him. GEO Group, a private prison company, runs the centre and listed health care among its services in a 2024 response to an ICE request for information. GEO referred questions to ICE. ICE listed anxiety, diabetes and high blood pressure in his medical history, as the graphic below shows.

'While in custody, Andrade received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals,' the agency said. Border officers arrested him on 26 June at a Laredo bridge crossing as he returned from a trip to Mexico. ICE says he gained permanent residency by failing to disclose a 2004 theft arrest, but his daughter says he disclosed it and was still approved. Homeland Security officials have offered no evidence of a conviction.

What Investigators Still Have to Answer

Henry Cuellar, Laredo's congressman, inspected the facility on Sunday and sent ICE seven written questions. They ask whether Andrade-Covarrubias sought medical help in his last 72 hours and which medications he received. Staff could not discuss the case during the investigation, Cuellar said, adding, 'We need to know what happened.'

ICE says it notified the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has backed Mexico's complaint to the local district attorney. Andrade-Covarrubias is the seventh ICE detainee to die in Texas this year, and a medical examiner ruled the first, Geraldo Lunas Campos, a homicide.