A Honduran man who lived and labored within the U.S. for 26 years died after being held at a California immigration detention facility for greater than a month, and his household is asking for an investigation, saying he complained of deteriorating well being circumstances earlier than his loss of life.
Luis Beltrán Yanez-Cruz, 68, died on Jan. 6 at 1:18 a.m. on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio after affected by heart-related well being points, in keeping with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. He was being held on the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico earlier than he was transferred to the hospital.
Federal officers mentioned Yanez-Cruz was “encountered” throughout a Nov. 16 enforcement operation in Newark, N.J., however he was not the goal of the operation, his daughter mentioned. He was put into removing proceedings, which have been pending on the time of his loss of life.
A photograph of Luis Beltrán Yanez-Cruz, 68, is displayed throughout his memorial. Yanez-Cruz died this month in ICE custody.
His daughter, Josselyn Yanez, blames ICE for not taking his well being issues critically and never offering medical consideration as his well being deteriorated. In a press release, ICE mentioned Yanez-Cruz was put within the detention facility’s medical unit for chest pains earlier than being despatched to El Centro Regional Medical Middle. He was then transported by helicopter to Indio.
“There must be an investigation as a result of this isn’t regular,” Yanez mentioned. “He began having signs weeks in the past; they might have executed one thing.”
In response to the household’s claims, a Homeland Safety official mentioned in a press release, “ICE has increased detention requirements than most US prisons that maintain precise US residents. All detainees are supplied with 3 meals a day, clear water, clothes, bedding, showers, and toiletries, and have entry to telephones to speak with their members of the family and attorneys.”
Luis Beltrán Yanez-Cruz was being held on the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico earlier than being hospitalized in Indio.
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Final September one other detainee on the facility died after experiencing a seizure on the facility, ICE officers mentioned.
As for Yanez-Cruz, officers mentioned he illegally entered the U.S. and was arrested close to Eagle Go, Texas, in June 1993 and faraway from the U.S. Between 1999 and 2012, the company mentioned, he submitted functions for momentary protected standing however was denied.
Yanez mentioned claims that her father was deported and by no means granted TPS are false. She mentioned her father had been granted TPS when he entered the U.S. in 1999, and it allowed him to go to Honduras on at the very least two events. His standing lapsed as a result of he was unable to resume it, she mentioned.
On Nov. 16 her father, who labored in building, had gotten breakfast round 10 a.m. at a McDonald’s in Newark when he stopped to speak with associates in an space recognized for day laborers to assemble and decide up work, she informed The Occasions. Abruptly, ICE brokers pulled up and started arresting individuals, together with her father.
Yanez, who lives in Houston, mentioned she realized of it about an hour later. Her father was in detention in New Jersey earlier than being moved to Calexico. He spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and New 12 months’s in detention.
Members of Todec Authorized Middle attend a memorial for Luis Beltrán Yanez-Cruz, who was from New Jersey and died removed from dwelling with none household by his aspect. “Though we didn’t know el señor Luis, his loss of life being in our yard, it’s so near us,” a member of the immigrant rights group mentioned. “It’s one ache after one other. We didn’t know him, however his household’s ache is our ache.”
Yanez-Cruz spent 26 years within the U.S., working building and paint jobs to assist his household get forward, Yanez mentioned.
“He was a rare father,” she mentioned. “He was all the time searching for us, whilst we received older and have become adults. He appeared out for his grandchildren … He all the time apprehensive about them and known as to ask how they have been doing.”
He known as frequently, even whereas he was detained, Yanez mentioned. However his well being appeared to worsen the longer he was in detention, she mentioned, regardless that he had been wholesome earlier than his arrest.
Inside the power he was affected by abdomen and chest pains and generally felt like vomiting when he ate, she mentioned. He suffered from shortness of breath strolling across the facility and when he reported it to the employees, they solely gave him capsules to ease the ache, she mentioned.
Yanez mentioned the final time she spoke to her father was Jan. 3, a traditional check-in when he requested about her youngsters as she walked dwelling from work. On the finish of the decision he mentioned “Cuidate, te amo mucho.” Take care, I like you numerous.
Her brother spoke to him the following day and he appeared high-quality, she mentioned. However as she waited for his name the next day she acquired one from a former detainee who informed her he heard her father had been transferred to the medical unit after he had issue respiratory. Yanez mentioned she tried to name the power however couldn’t get info till the following day once they known as to inform her he died through the early morning hours.
Parish employees and members of Todec Authorized Middle lead a procession after the memorial service.
Yanez-Cruz’s passing hit members of the family onerous as a result of they weren’t there in his closing moments, his daughter mentioned. They’ve been sharing tales of his life and the sacrifices he made for them.
Her father, she mentioned, departed Honduras in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch devastated the nation and left him, like hundreds of thousands of others, struggling within the aftermath. He traveled north to the U.S. to assist his household, Yanez mentioned, and continued to work onerous. He made associates simply, she mentioned, and when he died she acquired calls from individuals who met him and shared sort phrases.
Luz Gallegos, government director of Todec Authorized Middle, an immigrant rights group based mostly within the Coachella Valley, mentioned her group realized about Yanez-Cruz’s story after he died on the hospital in close by Indio. On Friday the authorized middle helped manage a memorial mass in honor of Yanez-Cruz on the Our Woman of Soledad Catholic Church, to honor Yanez-Cruz and others who died in custody, Gallegos mentioned.
“Though we didn’t know el señor Luis, his loss of life being in our yard, it’s so near us,” she mentioned. “It’s one ache after one other. We didn’t know him, however his household’s ache is our ache.”
