By Ana Milena Varón
Los Angeles, US, (EFE).- The family of Alberto Gutiérrez Reyes, who died in California while in immigration custody, demanded answers from the US Government, alleging that the Mexican migrant had requested medical attention but did not receive it in time. This situation mirrors others in the eleven deaths of foreigners recorded so far in 2026.
«They treated him worse than an animal; they didn’t help him,» Patricia Martínez, wife of the Mexican man who died in the early hours of Feb. 27, told EFE. «He told them he needed medical attention, but they didn’t give it to him,» she added.
In a statement sent to EFE, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) said that, for many undocumented immigrants in their custody, the medical care provided by the US Government «is the best they have received in their entire lives.»
Since Gutiérrez Reyes, 48, was detained at the Adelanto Detention Facility in California, the couple had communicated almost every night.
Martínez assured that she witnessed her husband’s health deteriorating. Almost a week before his death, he told her he had a fever, chest pain, and a cough. However, the Mexican man told his wife not to worry.
«He didn’t look well. I insisted that he should ask to see a doctor. He told me that days before he had filled out some papers and told them he was sick, but they ignored him,» she recounted, her voice cracking.
She knew something was wrong when her husband didn’t call the next day, as was their custom. The family learned about his death from the Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino, California.
«We couldn’t say goodbye,» she lamented through tears.
In a statement, ICE said that on Feb. 25, Gutiérrez Reyes reported feeling weak. A medical professional at the facility «ordered his transfer» to a hospital, where he was admitted «for chest pain and difficulty breathing.»
The Mexican man was pronounced dead on Feb. 27. ICE did not specify the time or day of the transfer to the medical center, nor the cause of death.
Eleven deaths in 2026
The death of Gutiérrez Reyes, who had lived in the US for 25 years, sparked public outrage.
Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) demanded an investigation, and Los Angeles Councilwoman Eunisses Hernández, who represents the district where the family lives, lamented the high number of immigrant deaths in ICE custody and criticized President Donald Trump’s administration, stating that it «does not value» human life.
The Mexican man, who was the sole provider for his home and for his elderly and ill parents in Veracruz, was the ninth immigrant death this year.
After his passing, authorities reported the death of an Iranian detainee in Mississippi on March 1, and a day later, Haitian Emmanuel Damas, 56, died in Arizona.
Damas’s brother, Presner Nelson, told CBS television that the immigrant had previously informed center staff that he had severe tooth pain. The pain worsened, and he was transferred to the hospital on Feb. 19, where he died twelve days later.
Regarding this case, ICE indicated that the immigrant reported difficulty breathing, which led to his hospital transfer, but did not mention the tooth pain.
The immigration agency insisted to EFE that «there has not been a sudden increase» in migrant deaths in their custody.
Workers who die like criminals
Both the families of Gutiérrez Reyes and Damas have expressed their rejection of the «illegal criminal» labels that ICE has used in press releases about their deaths.
In the case of the Mexican construction worker, authorities disclosed that his 2010 arrest was for a misdemeanor for which he was ordered to attend classes.
For his son, Erick Gutiérrez, a 19-year-old US citizen, ICE’s description of his father is a further affront against his parent, who was detained by ICE on Jan. 9 when he went out to eat during his work break. «What they are doing is inhumane,» he told EFE.
The family created the “Justice for Alberto Gutiérrez” account on GoFundMe, while the young man stopped attending college to take charge of the household and raise money to give his father a proper burial and help his grandparents and mother. EFE
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