AURORA, Colo. — Advocates said they are fighting to get more answers about why a man in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody died in 2022.
More than a year after 39-year-old Melvin Calero-Mendoza died, advocates are still wondering why it happened.
According to an autopsy report, a blood clot that killed Calero-Mendoza was likely linked to a foot injury. His family believes his death was probably preventable with medical care. That's why advocates filed a records request with ICE to learn more about why he didn't receive it.
Nonprofit Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network said ICE gave them hundreds of documents over the past few months, and nearly every page wasn't relevant to their request about Calero-Mendoza's death.
"It is incredibly frustrating for those of us trying to figure out what happened in this particular incident," said Laura Lunn, director of advocacy and litigation for the advocacy network. "Why did a healthy 39-year-old man die in ICE custody and how can we as advocates prevent something similar from happening?"
The network filed a records request in November 2022 to have access to the documents. Lunn filed a lawsuit in September 2023 when, she said, ICE hadn't responded to her request in nearly a year.
Lunn said she hasn't had much luck in federal court either.
"We have hundreds and hundreds of pages and not a single one is responsive to the request," she said. "We are looking through hoping for answers, and I saw architectural plans for how to build a court in a detention center."
She said ICE shared one document related to Calero-Mendoza, a death report that had already been released to the public.
"I think the death report has a lot of holes in terms of...there must have been more of an investigation than what is revealed through that report," she said.
This nonprofit dedicates time to representing people detained at this facility. They want to make sure what happened to Calero-Mendoza doesn't happen again.
"We know there are certain protocols ICE has to follow," she said. "Thus far, those documents have not come to light."
The University of Denver is working with Calero-Mendoza's family to get access to the records. A professor, Elizabeth Jordan, also filed a lawsuit because they also weren't provided the documents.
Jordan said ICE has a widespread and longstanding practice of ignoring records requests, and "slow-walking their responses" after being sued.
"It is particularly disappointing to me and Melvin's family," Jordan said. "We have been clear for over a year now that we are seeking his medical records which the family is legally entitled to, as our highest priority, and we have yet to see a single page."
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