Mexican Man Who Died in ICE Custody Had Legal Residency, But Status Questioned

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has verified that Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, a 56-year-old Mexican national who passed away last Saturday at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo, Texas, was a lawful permanent resident. However, ICE contends that his residency status was fraudulently obtained, alleging that Andrade-Covarrubias failed to disclose a 2004 arrest for property theft during his residency application review.

The agency's statement read, "It was determined that Andrade, a lawful permanent resident, obtained his immigration status fraudulently by not revealing his prior arrest during the review process. He was subsequently processed and transferred to ICE custody pending deportation proceedings."

His daughter, Estefani Andrade, aged 29, firmly disputed this account. She told the Texas Tribune that her father did inform authorities about his past arrest, and that his residency application was approved despite this disclosure.

The Tragic Conditions in Detention Centers

Estefani also raised concerns about her father's medical care while in detention, accusing ICE agents of ignoring his requests for assistance. The death of a legal permanent resident in ICE custody has reignited discussions about the treatment and conditions within these facilities. For more updates on this and similar cases, visit our Immigration in the U.S. section.

Andrade-Covarrubias was apprehended on June 26 by Customs and Border Protection officers as he returned to the U.S. from Mexico via the Juárez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo. He was held at the privately-operated Rio Grande Processing Center, which can house up to 1,900 individuals, for nearly four months until his death.

Medical Neglect Allegations

On Saturday morning, he was found unresponsive in his bed during a routine check. Staff performed CPR and contacted emergency services, but he was declared dead at 10:10 a.m., roughly 20 minutes after being discovered unconscious. The official cause of death is pending an autopsy by the Webb County Medical Examiner's Office.

While ICE claimed that Andrade-Covarrubias received adequate medical care and was seen by healthcare professionals, his family's account contradicts this. He suffered from a heart condition, diabetes, and hypertension, carrying his medications at the time of his arrest. Estefani claimed that the detention center staff refused to provide these medications and ignored his persistent complaints of coughing, breathing difficulties, and chest pressure.

Family and Future Plans

Having lived in Dallas for decades, Andrade-Covarrubias worked as an apartment painter and raised three U.S.-born children. He frequently traveled to Mexico, where he was building a house with plans to eventually return permanently. He had an immigration hearing scheduled for November 2, indicating that his immigration case was still ongoing at the time of his death.

Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar, representing Laredo, visited the center on Sunday to question staff about medical procedures but did not receive specific details due to the ongoing investigation. "Any death in federal custody is a serious matter, and we need to know what happened," he asserted on X.

International Reaction

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has demanded a "prompt, thorough, and transparent" investigation and announced plans to file a complaint with U.S. authorities. Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry intends to request a meeting with ICE and will address the issue with the State and Homeland Security Departments. Since January 2025, 18 Mexicans have died in U.S. custody or during immigration operations.

This incident marks the seventh ICE custody death in Texas during 2026, and the second in Laredo facilities following the death of 63-year-old Mexican Félix Alcorta-Rodríguez in June at the Webb County Detention Center. The first death in Texas that year was Cuban Geraldo Lunas Campos, whose death was ruled a homicide by the El Paso County Medical Examiner.

Record high figures provide context to this case: the 2026 fiscal year concluded with 37 deaths in ICE custody, surpassing the previous fiscal year's 23, according to Bloomberg Law. A JAMA medical journal study calculated an annualized death rate of 88.9 per 100,000 detainees during this period, exceeding the peak recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic.