A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 2025. YUKI IWAMURA / AP
A Haitian man confined at an Arizona immigration detention center for months died at a hospital on Monday, March 2, after a tooth infection was left untreated, the man's brother said on Wednesday.
Emmanuel Damas, 56, told medical personnel at the Florence Correctional Center that he had a toothache in mid-February, but he was not sent to a dentist, said Damas' brother, Presly Nelson.
Nelson believes the staff at the facility did not take his brother's complaints seriously even though it was a treatable condition. Nelson said he would expect such a death in countries with less access to health care, but not the United States. "As a country – I'm an American now – I think we can do better than that," Nelson said.
Damas is among at least nine people who have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody this year. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. ICE had said it hoped to issue a news release Wednesday.
