AURORA | Federal immigration officials say a Nicaraguan man seeking asylum has died while in custody at a private immigrant prison facility in Aurora.
Melvin Ariel Calero-Mendoza, 39, died Friday at University of Colorado Hospital, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement news release.
The cause of death is not yet known. An autopsy is pending.
An ICE spokesperson declined to comment on why the man was transported to the hospital from the north Aurora GEO immigration detention center, which provides some medical care to detainees. GEO Group, a private entity, owns and operates the facility.
Calero-Mendoza had been at the facility since May 2, according to ICE. He was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol April 13 and was at the Aurora facility awaiting completion of his removal proceedings.
On Oct. 5, a judge with the Executive Office of Immigration Review ordered Calero-Mendoza’s removal and denied all relief. A 30-day period was granted before removal to accommodate any potential appeals.
Calero-Mendoza’s death marks the third death at the facility in nearly four decades. The last was in 2017 when 64-year-old Iranian immigrant Kamyar Samimi died after two weeks in the facility.
As a result of Samimi’s death, the ACLU of Colorado launched a wrongful death lawsuit, in part because of the alleged lack of care he received from GEO medical staff.
Stay home
Remain in your own country and help improve things there.
I love you
Im sorry to say this but you don’t e3ven know what you’re talking about. Why should they remain in theior own country? They are onlty looking for a better life. You should readd more to educate yourself a bit.
Wow, the third death in almost FOUR decades? Alert the media.