Family wants answers, justice for Colorado man who died in ICE custody

Delvin Francisco Rodriguez was detained by ICE on Colorado’s Western Slope in September while he was on his way to a job with some of his co-workers.

Initially, he tried fighting his case. 

He had been in the country for seven years and had never committed a crime. He was in the process of getting asylum. He had just received his work permit in the mail and was expecting a social security number any day.

But none of those details mattered. Lawyers told him it wouldn’t be easy. He worried about the legal costs, so he signed a waiver to voluntarily be deported back to his home in Nicaragua.

Still, the days in detention turned into months, and Delvin was transferred to another detention center in Mississippi, wondering how much longer it would be before he would be home.

In December, he was instead transported to a hospital, unconscious. On Dec. 16, his family had to take him off life support. He died in another state – away from family in the U.S. and away from his family in Nicaragua. 

Now, family members are still wondering exactly what happened and why.

“We want justice,” a family member told Voces Unidas. “This is a case of someone who wanted to go back to his country. He had agreed to go back and just wanted to be with his family.”

Voces Unidas is not naming the family members who spoke to us because they fear retaliation. 

Recent news reports detail how the number of people dying while in ICE custody is quickly rising. And even more concerning, news reports are documenting how the government may be hiding what is really happening in these detention centers. As ICE tells families that their loved one committed suicide, witnesses and autopsy reports are pointing to prison guards using excessive violence against detainees as the likely cause of death.

In Delvin’s case, family members say those news reports about other deaths are feeling too similar, including that of another man who was also from Nicaragua. 

A family member told Voces Unidas that nurses at the hospital raised questions about the story officials gave them about how Delvin was hanging with a sheet. That wouldn’t have left a thin, tight marking around his neck, they said. 

Family members also wondered about the injury to Delvin’s forehead that they saw on a video call arranged by the hospital, before he was taken off life support.

And yet, they know that Delvin was struggling in detention. An acquaintance of the family who was in the same center briefly reported seeing Delvin’s hair falling out, and that he wasn’t eating. 

“The truth is I’m not sure if he did it or not, but there had to be negligence at the very least,” a family member said. “I want to know what really happened.”

Now Voces Unidas is urging our federal lawmakers to do more to hold these facilities accountable. 

We are joining Delvin’s family in demanding justice for Delvin, and requesting a thorough investigation into what led to Delvin’s death.

The pain that is rippling through our communities as a result of this administration’s choice to tear families apart and to look the other way as violence is used against us, is beyond words.

Delvin’s family members are feeling hopeless.

Delvin’s family said they were told on Dec. 6 that Delvin had been transferred to the hospital on Dec. 4, after he was found in his cell, hanging from a sheet. In the first call family members had from a Spanish-speaking person who identified himself as a warden at the facility, the man on the call was sympathetic but said he could not answer many questions because of an open investigation.

He said that he would be available to help with any next steps.

But Delvin’s family tells Voces Unidas that they have not been able to get in touch with anyone from the facility since then. 

The day that Delvin allegedly was found hanging, was also the last day Delvin had called one of his sisters.  

When he called his family members, they say they noticed he had lost track of time. He would ask what day it was and what time it was. But mostly, Delvin wanted to know if they had updates about when he would be deported. 

“Ask for me,” he reportedly told a sister on that last call. “Ask about my belongings. They aren’t telling me anything. I’ll call you tomorrow.”