July 2 (UPI) — A 30-year-old Honduran man died in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while being detained at a facility in Houston, the agency said Monday.
Yimi Alexis Balderramos-Torres died Sunday at the Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital in the Houston suburb of Humble, ICE officials said in a statement. He had been held at the Houston Contract Detention Facility since June 18. He was taken into custody by the agency June 6.
ICE said Balderramos-Torres was found unresponsive in his dormitory Sunday and immediate attempts to revive him failed. Hermann medical staff pronounced him dead at 6:45 a.m. after he was transferred to the hospital.
Balderramos-Torres became the sixth immigrant detainee to die in ICE custody since Oct 1, 2018, and at least the 11th person to die in U.S. custody since September.
“Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment detainees arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay,” the agency said. “All ICE detainees receive medical, dental and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility, and access to daily sick call and 24-hour emergency care.”
The agency said that Balderramos-Torres had a history of illegally entering the U.S. dating back to 2013. He was captured by U.S. Border Patrol near Falfurrias, Texas, on Aug. 5, 2013, and sent back to Honduras.
In his latest efforts, Border Patrol stopped Balderramos-Torres in El Paso on May 17 and he was returned to Mexico. On May 27, Balderramos-Torres was stopped by local law enforcement in the U.S. during a routine traffic stop. ICE took him into custody on June 6, the agency said.
