Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, 56, Dies in ICE Custody at the GEO-Run Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo; His Daughter Says Staff Would Not Give Him His Medications, and DHS Says He Received Proper Care

Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, 56, a Mexican national who had lived in Dallas for decades, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo, Texas, on Saturday, October 17, 2026, and died. Rep. Henry Cuellar put the discovery at about 10 a.m. during a security check (Texas Tribune); ICE’s statement, reproduced in the Tribune’s updated story, gives a discovery time of approximately 9:48 a.m. CST and a pronouncement of death at 10:10 a.m. The Webb County Medical Examiner is performing the autopsy and the cause of death is unknown.

His daughter, 29, a U.S. citizen, told the Tribune that her father had a heart condition, diabetes and high blood pressure, that he had medicine with him when he was detained, and that staff at the center would not “give him his medications.” She said he had a cough, told her he was not feeling well, and that medical staff “would just ignore him” even when he reported trouble breathing and tightness in his chest. These are her account as relayed by the Tribune, not findings. DHS, per FOX 4, and ICE, in a statement the Tribune reproduces, say he received proper medical care. Rep. Cuellar told FOX 4 he has audio from people who said Andrade-Covarrubias asked for medicine and did not receive it, and that he could not verify what treatment he actually got.

On his status and the arrest, the family and DHS give different accounts. DHS says he was arrested at the Laredo port of entry on June 26, 2026 for allegedly not disclosing a 2004 theft arrest when applying for status, and did not say whether he was convicted; the family says he was a lawful permanent resident. He is the second death in a Laredo ICE facility this year after Felix Alcorta-Rodriguez (June 19), and the family told the Tribune they learned of the death from the Webb County Medical Examiner, not from a federal agency.

Not established here: the cause of death, whether medication was withheld, and ICE’s formal detainee-death posting and notice to Congress. The New York Times story (Oct 19) that prompted this entry was paywalled and not read.