A 56-year-old lawful permanent resident of the United States has died in immigration custody in Texas, and his family and federal officials disagree sharply over why he was being held at all. Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias was found unconscious in his bed at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo on Saturday morning, The Texas Tribune reported. ICE said staff performed chest compressions and called emergency services, but he was declared dead about 20 minutes after being found unresponsive. He had been in immigration detention since June.

ICE said on Monday that Andrade-Covarrubias's cause of death is still unknown, with an autopsy pending with the Webb County Medical Examiner, and said he received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals, according to the Tribune's reporting, republished by the San Antonio Current. Scripps News reported that the Department of Homeland Security said Customs and Border Protection arrested him at a Laredo port of entry on June 26 as he returned to Texas from Mexico, because officers believed he had obtained his legal status fraudulently by failing to disclose a 2004 arrest for theft. ICE was seeking to deport him, and he was in removal proceedings with an immigration court hearing scheduled for November 2.

His daughter, Estefani Andrade, disputes the fraud allegation. She told the Tribune that her father did raise his criminal record during the application process and that immigration officials approved his green card application knowing of it. Scripps News noted that DHS offered no evidence that Andrade-Covarrubias had ever been convicted of a crime, despite describing him as a 'criminal alien' in its statement on his death. The family also says he could not get the medical attention he needed in detention for pre-existing conditions including high blood pressure and diabetes — a claim ICE denies, saying he received proper care.

Andrade-Covarrubias lived in the Dallas area for decades and worked as a house painter, his daughter told the Tribune. KPRC reported he is the seventh person to die in ICE custody in Texas in 2026. U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas has asked ICE to quickly answer a list of questions about the death. 'Was he asking for help? Was he asking for medicine?' Cuellar said in an interview with Scripps News. 'I want to see the specifics, starting off with, was he a legal resident? Because if he was a legal resident he should have never been in there.'

Sources: The Texas Tribune via San Antonio Current; Scripps News via TMJ4; KPRC.