Lawful Permanent Resident Dies in ICE Custody in Texas as Family Says Care Was Denied

A lawful permanent resident of the United States has died in immigration custody in Texas, in a case now facing questions in Congress and in Mexico.

Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, 56, from Mexico, was found unresponsive in his bed at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo on Saturday, October 17, ICE said in a statement released on October 20. Security staff began lifesaving measures and Laredo Fire Department paramedics responded, the agency said. He was pronounced dead at 10:10 a.m. local time. The cause of death is unknown, and an autopsy will decide the official cause, ICE said.

He had lived in the Dallas area for decades and worked as a house painter, his daughter told the Texas Tribune.

Why he was in custody

Customs and Border Protection officers detained him on June 26, 2026, at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge in Laredo as he returned from Mexico. ICE said he had obtained lawful permanent status through fraudulent means by failing to disclose a previous arrest, for theft of property on July 27, 2004, during the review process. He was held pending removal proceedings before an immigration judge, and an online court record showed a hearing set for November 2.

His daughter, Estefani Andrade, disputes the fraud claim. She told the Texas Tribune that the arrest was known to the authorities who approved her father's green card.

In its release ICE called him a "criminal alien." Scripps News reported that Homeland Security offered no evidence he had ever been convicted of a crime.

Two accounts of his care

ICE said he had documented medical conditions including diabetes, hypertension and anxiety, and that he received proper medical care in custody.

His family gives a different account. His daughter told the Texas Tribune that he had medication with him when he was detained, but staff at the center would not give him his medications. She said he sought medical help after developing a cough, breathing difficulties and chest tightness, and believed his concerns were ignored.

Questions from Congress and Mexico

Representative Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat whose district includes Laredo, toured the facility on the same day Andrade-Covarrubias was found. Cuellar has asked ICE to answer a list of questions quickly. "Was he asking for help? Was he asking for medicine?" Cuellar said in an interview with Scripps News. "I want to see the specifics, starting off with, was he a legal resident? Because if he was a legal resident he should have never been in there."

Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, told reporters on Monday that Mexico wants a full United States investigation and will file a complaint over the protection of human rights.

The Rio Grande Processing Center is a for-profit detention center owned by the GEO Group, which deferred questions to ICE. A January 2025 inspection by ICE's own detention oversight office faulted the center for not always conducting health assessments for new detainees within two weeks, as national standards require, while rating the facility "good."

USA Today reported that he is the seventh person to die in ICE detention in Texas this year, and that at least 58 people have died in ICE detention since President Donald Trump's second term began in January 2025, by its tracker. A separate count by Relevant Research, reported by Scripps News, puts the total at 60.

ICE said it notified the Department of Homeland Security, its inspector general and its Office of Professional Responsibility, and the Consulate of Mexico.