AURORA, Colo. — It's been almost a year since 39-year-old Melvin Calero-Mendoza died while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Aurora. A nonprofit that provides legal services to people detained at the facility has filed a lawsuit to get records after they said a Freedom Of Information Act request from November was never fulfilled.
"Our primary purpose in filing the Freedom of Information Act Request is to make sure we are gaining information about what went wrong in Melvin’s case so we can ensure the same thing doesn’t happen to some of our clients," said Laura Lunn, director of advocacy and litigation at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network.
In her lawsuit against ICE, Lunn said the federal agency violated statute by failing to respond to a FOIA request for nearly 10 months.
Calero-Mendoza died on Oct. 13, 2022 from a blood clot likely connected to a previous foot injury, according to an autopsy report from the Adams County Coroner's Office. He hurt one of his toes while playing soccer at the ICE detention center in Aurora in the summer of 2022. After weeks of his foot and leg swelling he collapsed in the facility and died.
The ICE detainee death report said Calero-Mendoza went to see the detention facility's nurse three times during the month before his death - and each time the nurse noted his exam as "normal."
The last time, on Sept. 29, Calero-Mendoza "reported severe pain and swelling to his right calf for the past two days," according to the report.
9NEWS health expert Dr. Payal Kohli reviewed the autopsy report and said it shows that a blood clot from Calero-Mendoza's leg went into his lungs, which stopped the flow of blood to his heart and caused cardiac arrest.
Kohli said the injury with the pain and swelling should have been sign to do an ultrasound to rule out a blood clot.
According to RMAIN's lawsuit, Calero-Mendoza's death is not the first one that has raised questions about the facility's medical care nor is it the first time FOIA requesters have filed lawsuits to compel ICE to share documents.
"As we know Melvin Calero-Mendoza was age 39 so about my age and he passed away very, very suddenly as a result of the fact he didn’t have access to adequate medical care," she said. "We are trying to request records that would provide greater oversight of what is happening in the detention facility."
There's also been pressure from lawmakers in Colorado.
Congressman Jason Crow and Senators Michael Bennett and John Hickenlooper have sent multiple letters to ICE about the death of Calero-Mendoza. In September, they sent another letter to the federal agency demanding more transparency. The letter said an independent review of Calero-Mendoza's death was supposed to be complete on or about April 11, 2023.
"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," the letter said. "We encourage you to cooperate with our community members pursuing ICE OPR’s Detainee Death Review Report."
There's a hearing in federal court scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 5 to address RMAIN's lawsuit against ICE.
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