An autopsy report released on Monday has confirmed that the death of a Haitian man who spent months in an Arizona immigration detention facility was linked to his dental problems. The report, from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office, concluded that 56-year-old Emmanuel Damas died from complications of a chest infection with abscesses in his neck and throat, with severe dental issues listed as a contributing factor.
Damas had been detained at the Central Arizona Florence Correctional Center in Florence, Arizona. According to the autopsy, he declined recommendations at dental appointments to have problematic teeth removed. In October, a dental exam suggested extraction of a particular tooth, but when the procedure became available three months later, Damas refused, stating it no longer hurt. He also declined a further recommendation in mid-February.
Days later, Damas complained of a sore throat and abdominal pain. Staff asked him to visit the medical unit, but he refused. He was eventually taken to hospital on 19 February with respiratory failure and transferred for higher-level care, dying on 2 March at a hospital in Scottsdale.
Damas is one of at least 51 detainees who have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since President Donald Trump’s second term began in January 2025. Medical examiners have ruled most of these deaths as natural causes, though experts say many were preventable with timely medical care. Damas’s case is the only one where dental problems have been listed as a cause or contributing factor among three dozen deaths for which information has been released.
Raymond Audain, a lawyer representing Damas’s family, stated that his client died due to failures by ICE and CoreCivic, the private corrections company operating the Florence facility, to provide basic medical care. Audain said Damas begged for medical attention on numerous occasions, including the night before hospitalisation, but was ignored. CoreCivic expressed commitment to providing safe and humane care, citing federal privacy laws as a reason for not sharing specific medical information.
