Family is seeking answers in case of Haitian man who died in ICE custody

The family of a Haitian man who died while in detention at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Arizona earlier this month wants answers from federal officials amid their concerns that he was not properly cared for during an illness before he passed away.

Emmanuel Cleeford Damas, 56, who had arrived legally in Dorchester in 2024, died on March 2 at the HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center. His family insists that what began as a toothache cascaded with inadequate care into a sequence of more serious conditions in the last two weeks of his life.

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have rebutted the claims of inadequate medical care leading to his death. In a statement posted to social media accounts, they noted his death on March 2 and said that at his intake on Sept. 15, 2025, there were no serious medical conditions, and that Damas had been assured he would receive medications he was already taking.

On Feb. 19, the statement added, he complained of shortness of breath and was immediately sent to Florence Anthem Hospital to receive care, then was transferred to the John C. Lincoln Medical Center Intensive Care Unit in Phoenix for “a higher level of care.” On Feb. 25, he was transferred to a third facility for an even higher level of care and for a cardiothoracic workup.

The statement noted that “from the moment an alien enters ICE custody,” there is “access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. This is the best healthcare many illegal aliens receive in their entire lives.”

For its part, the family wants DHS to pursue a thorough investigation into the reasons for Damas’ death and conduct a full autopsy.

His twin brothers, Presly and Presner Nelson, are speaking out about their concerns about his treatment with the help of immigrant advocates and members of the state’s Congressional delegation.

“He had a toothache and kept going to the nurse to ask for medical assistance,” said Presly Nelson. “They kept giving him ibuprofen, ibuprofen, ibuprofen and then it got infected. The infection spread from his mouth to his neck and his chest and lungs. Then his body went into sepsis shock.

“It’s something that could be easily prevented — a toothache. It’s not a big deal to just give him antibiotics and his life could have been spared. We’re working now to see if we can get the medical record and see what exactly happened here,” he said, noting that the family had been approved to visit Damas on Feb. 28, “but he passed before we got there.”

Presly said their family hails from Arcahaie, a coastal Haitian town and that Damas was living in the United States through a federal program offered to Haitian nationals with family members already settled in the United States.

While Presly and other family members have been in Boston for 28 years or more, Damas arrived in February 2024 under the Biden Administration’s Humanitarian Parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans — known as CHNV. It’s a program the Trump Administration has sought to end for more than a year but is in limbo due to ongoing litigation. However, parolees can lose their status if arrested. Being approved for CHNV in 2023 was a unifying event for the family.

“He was excited, and I surprised him picking him up and coming here,” said Presly. “I wasn’t thinking at the time that was the worst decision I could have ever made.”

He described his brother as an “ordinary man” who was street smart and “all business.” He noted that he was devoted to his children, family, mother and siblings, and worked hard to support his family. He also enjoyed life, enjoyed having a beer when not working while gathering with friends and family.

Hannah Hafter, one of the Dorchester hub leaders for the LUCE Network Massachusetts — an advocacy and action organization working to alert and educate immigrant communities about ICE — said they don’t believe this was a simple medical issue.

“Whatever failed that led to this needs to be fixed,” she said. “I would say there is a lot more than getting medical care in Arizona that could have prevented this death. There are a lot more stages leading up to that, which could have been done to prevent this.”

U.S. Sens. Ed Markey Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley have been working with the family to get details on the case.

“Mr. Damas’s death was a terrible, preventable tragedy,” Markey said in a statement to The Reporter. “It is critical that immigrants in ICE’s custody receive timely and proper medical care. I demanded answers about Mr. Damas’s treatment in custody, and I have yet to hear back from ICE.

“Working with members of the Damas family and partners in the Arizona Congressional delegation, I have been pushing to get the family answers and the local assistance they need.”

It was at a small family gathering in Dorchester on Sept. 14, 2025, where things were set tragically in motion. According to the family’s account, the group had broken up early and worried neighbors had called police for a safety check on a family member from the home.

Police arrived and the situation seemed to be resolved, family members say, but a misunderstanding led to a sudden escalation and officers arrested Damas at the scene for an alleged domestic assault charge. Presly said that the family went to Nashua Street Jail ands posted bail for Damas, but he never came out.

“Then while we were waiting, we heard he was picked up by ICE,” he said. “After that ICE shuffled him from Boston to Buffalo and then to Arizona.”

ICE and DHS accounts indicate that Damas was arrested by Boston Police on a charge of assault and battery on Sept. 14 and taken into their custody on Sept. 15.

Family members said they have secured a lawyer and learned that the best course of action was to apply for asylum to change Damas’ status. That application was denied last year, and an appeal was being considered at the time of his death.

Hafter said they have questions about how a call to police for a well-being check led to Damas’ detention and eventual death in custody. She said they want an investigation that looks at the stages by local officials, including the arrest by Boston Police and fingerprinting done by the Suffolk County Sheriff at the jail that was entered into a federal database. She believes that is probably what alerted ICE.

“They don’t directly share with ICE, but they share fingerprints with a law enforcement collaborative database,” she said. “They say that Boston is a sanctuary city but apparently fingerprints give an alert in the database that is shared with ICE de facto…An investigation into how it could have been prevented by the city and county on this end is a demand we have.”

Said City Councillor Ruthzee Louijeune, who has been working closely with the family as well: “First of all, he was not a criminal; he was arrested on a domestic incident and didn’t have a criminal record,” she said. “Someone’s survival should not rest on having to live perfectly in the world. None of us would survive. It’s a travesty. It’s heavy and shouldn’t happen. A toothache should never lead to someone’s death.”

Hafter believes that if he had been held locally at the Plymouth ICE facility, he would have been closer to family and wouldn’t have died. “The transfer to Arizona was a deadly move,” she said.

Presly said he still believes in the justice system and that a fair investigation will take place, and they will get answers. But he also said he has learned of other detainees dying in custody.

So far this year 12 people — including Damas — have died in ICE custody, according to the agency’s own records. An additional 31 died in ICE custody in 2025.

“My brother’s story is different than many of the other stories we’ve heard, but you can see a pattern and that is a hard thing to see this happening in the USA, which is the greatest country on Earth,” Presly said.

“I think as a country that’s what we need to ask — whether this is the country we want to have right now. That’s my message.”

The LUCE Network of Massachusetts, which assists immigrants, has scheduled a vigil with the family on City Hall Plaza Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. In addition to the vigil, a memorial for family and community for Damas will be held on March 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Boston Teacher’s Union Hall, 150 Mt. Vernon St. (Rear).

WBUR and the Dorchester Reporter have a partnership in which the news organizations share resources to collaborate on stories. This story was originally published by the Dorchester Reporter.