A 39-year-old Mexican national in immigration custody died as a result of an underlying heart disease, an autopsy report shows.
Juan Garcia-Hernandez died on Sept. 15 at Florence Hospital at Anthem after collapsing outside the medical unit at the Florence Detention Center, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a news release.
He’d been taken into custody on Aug. 27, after his stay of removal expired, ICE said. Efforts by Florence personnel and emergency responders to revive Garcia were unsuccessful.
Garcia-Hernandez was found to have heart disease as a result of long-standing high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, said Dr. Greg Hess, chief medical examiner in Pima County. His cause of death was listed as “natural.”
Garcia was granted a voluntary departure by the Board of Immigration Appeals on March 12, 2014, requiring him to leave the country within 60 days. When he failed to do so, the order of removal became final and ICE granted Garcia a one-year stay of removal in June 2014 for humanitarian reasons.
Garcia was awaiting repatriation to Mexico at the time of his death.
Since 2003, there have been more than a dozen deaths at immigration facilities in Arizona, including six suicides.
