ICE detainee Emmanuel Damas died from untreated tooth infection at CoreCivic Arizona facility

On March 2, 2026, Emmanuel Damas, a 56-year-old Haitian asylum seeker from Boston, Massachusetts, died at a Scottsdale hospital after a tooth infection went untreated for approximately one week at the CoreCivic-operated Central Arizona Florence Correctional Complex in Florence, Arizona. Detainees who witnessed his deterioration said that despite increasingly severe pain, Damas was provided only ibuprofen and was not transferred to outside medical care until his condition became critical.

His family was not permitted to visit him in intensive care for nine days after his hospitalization. By the time they were allowed to see him, Damas was shackled to a hospital bed, unable to move or speak. He died shortly thereafter. He was one of thirteen people who died in ICE custody in the first three months of 2026 — and one of 46 since the start of the Trump administration — amid a period of record-high ICE detention populations.

The New York Times and The Seattle Times investigation found that ICE detention deaths have risen alongside surging detention populations, with facilities operated by private contractors including CoreCivic facing repeated allegations of inadequate medical care. The Central Arizona Florence Correctional Complex, where Damas was detained, is one of the largest private immigration detention facilities in the United States.

Updates

2026-03-11 — Arizona congressional delegation demanded federal investigation into Damas's death [6, 7]

Representatives Raúl Grijalva, Suhas Subramanyam Ansari, and Greg Stanton sent a letter to ICE and DHS demanding a full investigation into the circumstances of Emmanuel Damas's death, citing the reported denial of adequate dental care and the family's delayed access to him in intensive care. The representatives called for accountability from ICE and CoreCivic and sought documentation of the medical treatment timeline.

2026-05-19 — Medical examiner confirmed untreated dental infection caused death [5]

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner released findings confirming that Emmanuel Damas died as a result of his untreated dental infection progressing to sepsis. The report documented the timeline of his care at the CoreCivic facility, corroborating detainee accounts that his worsening condition was not adequately treated before becoming life-threatening.