Rep. Crow, Sens. Bennet and Hickenlooper Push ICE to Release Information on Aurora Detainee’s Death

WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO-06), led a letter with Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper pushing the Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to publicly release the Detainee Death Review Report on the death of Nicaraguan asylum seeker Melvin Ariel Calero-Mendoza. Mr. Calero-Mendoza was detained and tragically died at the Aurora Contract Detention Facility operated by the GEO Group in October 2022. 

This letter builds on Congressman Crow’s repeated requests for more information surrounding Mr. Calero-Mendoza’s death and the initiation of an independent review by the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). The product of this investigation, the Detainee Death Review Report, is complete but ICE has yet to respond to a stakeholder Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that is several months past due.  

“It is our understanding that stakeholders within our constituency have submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records associated with Mr. Calero-Mendoza and that this request is several months past its estimated completion date,” wrote the members. “We encourage you to cooperate with our community members pursuing ICE OPR’s Detainee Death Review Report.”

They continued: “We believe oversight and transparency of facilities operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is crucially important and we encourage you to remit this document as expeditiously as time allows.” 

Last month, a 911 call related to the death of Mr. Calero-Mendoza was released and highlighted the inability of facility staff to quickly provide crucial information on the patient’s condition and facility access, delaying emergency medical care.

Congressman Crow continues to prioritize oversight over Aurora’s ICE Processing Center as he calls for the termination of federal contracts with for-profit detention centers. 

A PDF of the letter can be found here, with text appearing below:

September 14, 2023

Patrick Lechleitner

Acting Director

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

500 12^th St SW

Washington, D.C. 2053

Dear Acting Director Lechleitner:

On October 21, 2022, and November 22, 2022, we wrote to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding the death of Melvin Ariel Calero-Mendoza in ICE custody. Mr. Calero-Mendoza was detained at the Aurora Contract Detention Facility operated by the GEO Group in Aurora, Colorado.

Mr. Calero-Mendoza died on October 13, 2022. In your agency’s response dated November 17, 2022, ICE confirmed that the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) initiated an independent review surrounding the incident beginning on October 14, 2022. This independent review was to include a facility tour, interviews with facility staff, and an assessment of Mr. Calero’s medical and detention file and video surveillance footage related to the medical emergency.

The stated timeline for the review’s completion was on or about April 11, 2023. This document, the Detainee Death Review Report, is now complete. It is our understanding that stakeholders within our constituency have submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records associated with Mr. Calero-Mendoza and that this request is several months past its estimated completion date.

We encourage you to cooperate with our community members pursuing ICE OPR’s Detainee Death Review Report. We understand that ICE is inundated with FOIA requests and that significant time goes into these searches. However, we believe oversight and transparency of facilities operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is crucially important and we encourage you to remit this document as expeditiously as time allows.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.