ICE detainee in Arizona dies after not receiving ‘timely medical attention’
The Guardian • • nation
Key Points:
- Emmanuel Damas, a Haitian asylum seeker held at the Florence correctional center in Arizona, died after suffering severe tooth pain and reportedly not receiving timely medical care, raising concerns about detainee treatment.
- Damas was taken into ICE custody in Boston in September 2025 and endured nearly two weeks of toothache before being hospitalized and subsequently dying on Monday.
- Chandler city council member Christine Ellis has called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Damas’s death, highlighting potential neglect in medical attention within ICE facilities.
- ICE has not yet reported Damas’s death, which adds to the troubling trend of detainee fatalities, with at least nine deaths in ICE custody so far in 2026 and 32 deaths in 2025
