1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: On May thirteenth, twenty fifteen, Jose Dejus de Nissagun had 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: a birthday party. It was small, just his parents and 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:11,959 Speaker 1: some family and friends. They celebrated on the back patio 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: of their modest home on an isolated stretch of coast 5 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: in central Mexico. Jose de Jesus was turning thirty one 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: years old. They were celebrating a birthday, but they were 7 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: also saying goodbye. The day after the party, Jose would 8 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: take a plane and a bus to the Mexican border 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: and then attempt to cross the desert into the United States. 10 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: His goal was to reunite with his three young children, 11 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: who lived in Las Vegas with their mother. Jose missed 12 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,520 Speaker 1: them terribly and for years he had dreamed of being 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: near them again. But just seven days after his party, 14 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: Jose was dead in a US immigration detention center. It 15 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: was a suicide, a suicide by asphyxiation to. 16 00:00:58,840 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 2: Be more precise. 17 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: During the autopsy, the medical examiner found lodged deep in 18 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 1: Jose's throat a bunched up orange sock. Jose had been 19 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: in the Elloyd Detention Center in Arizona for just three days. 20 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: He didn't have a history of mental illness according to 21 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: his family, and he was coming to the US with 22 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: a purpose to be with his kids. 23 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 2: So what happened? 24 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: From Futuro Media, It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria ino Josa. 25 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: Over the course of almost a year, from twenty fifteen 26 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: through twenty sixteen, producers Marlon Bishop, Fernando Charari, and I 27 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 1: reported on the circumstances around Jose de Jsu's unusual death, 28 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: and you'll be hearing the three of us narrating this story. 29 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: We took trips all over the country and in Mexico, 30 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: conducted dozens of interviews, and poured through government documents in 31 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: an attempt to understand just what happened to Hose de Hissus. 32 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: It was quite a different time in our country. President 33 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: Obama was still in the White House and there was 34 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: far less national media attention on immigration and the detention system. 35 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: But what we uncovered about how detention works and why 36 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:46,519 Speaker 1: migrants are dying in detention is more relevant now than ever. 37 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: About forty people have died in detention since President Trump 38 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: took office, bringing the total to over two hundred since 39 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: two thousand and three, and now, during the coronavirus outbreak, 40 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: detainees are more vulnerable than ever due to poor medical 41 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: care inside the detention facilities. Already, several detainees have died 42 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 1: of COVID nineteen. So we're going to bring back our 43 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: two part radio documentary aired in twenty sixteen. It's the 44 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,839 Speaker 1: story of the life and death of one immigrant detainee, 45 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: and we're asking the questions, why did Jose Dejsues die 46 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: in custody of the United States in such a strange 47 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: way and what does his death tell us about conditions 48 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: inside immigration detention facilities. We first heard about this story 49 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen while Marlon and I were on a 50 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: reporting trip in Phoenix, Arizona. 51 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 3: Head west on West Elm Street toward North nineteen then 52 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 3: turned right out to North nineteenth Avenue. 53 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 4: It was the height of summer. 54 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 2: What is the what is the temperature reading right now 55 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 2: on It says one. 56 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 4: Oh five on the car If we're to believe it, 57 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 4: that's pretty high. 58 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: We've been in touch with an immigrant advocacy group called 59 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: PINE and they invited us to their office. 60 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 4: They invited us because something weird was going on and 61 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 4: it had to do with Jose. 62 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 5: We started getting letters from the Eloid detention center anonymous letters. 63 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 5: People are obviously scared. 64 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: This is Francisca Borias. She's the organizing director at Bwinde. 65 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 5: It literally happened right after his death. Right after his 66 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 5: death was on May twentieth, and probably early June is 67 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 5: when we started getting letters, and then we were like, Okay, 68 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 5: something's gonna like something's happening. 69 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 4: Puente is one of the main groups in the area 70 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 4: that helps immigrants and detention get legal representation, so people 71 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 4: on the inside note to contact them when something comes up. 72 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 6: And for a little context, the people inside attention range 73 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 6: from those who were caught crossing the border recently to 74 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 6: people who have been living in the US for decades 75 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 6: and maybe their immigration status came up during a traffic 76 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,279 Speaker 6: stop or a workplace. Right The people that are in 77 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 6: detention are either waiting to be deported or they're waiting 78 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:18,840 Speaker 6: for a court date to find out if they can 79 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 6: stay one. 80 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 4: They gets letters from detainees all the time, but they 81 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 4: had never received so many letters before. Dozens. They were 82 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 4: filled with accounts of Jose's death. 83 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: Do you have the letters here? 84 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 5: Let me look at my desk. 85 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 4: That's a lot of letters. 86 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: So this is May twenty six. 87 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 7: Here Hosa Sagon got thrown into a cell and a 88 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 7: building Bravo six hundred like an animal. They ripped his 89 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 7: clothes off, did not give him a mattress until around 90 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 7: ten pm. All he was asking was a phone call 91 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 7: to his family or lawyer, which never happened. He was ignored, 92 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 7: like if he wasn't even there. He was so stressed 93 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 7: and desperate at that point. 94 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: So he continued saying he was so stressed and desperate 95 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: at that point that it pushed him to commit suicide. 96 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: I believe Jose Sai Wound's death could have been prevented, 97 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,839 Speaker 1: just like other previous deaths that Alloyd Detention Center has had. 98 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: In other letters, several detainees wrote that they heard screaming 99 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,840 Speaker 1: coming from hose cell and believed he was beaten up 100 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: by guards. One wrote that Jose was tasered in pepper sprayed, 101 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 1: but all of them suggested that he was mistreated in detention. 102 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 4: It's hard to know for sure which, if any, of 103 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 4: the accounts were first hand and which were rumors to 104 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 4: kind that fly through the detention center when big things happen, 105 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,239 Speaker 4: but it was clear that detainees at Eloy were upset 106 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 4: and freaked out. Because nobody at the detention center was 107 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 4: telling them what was going on. 108 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 1: Then a week later, some detainees said they went on 109 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 1: a hunger strike to protest the conditions inside Eloit and 110 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: to protest Jose's death. 111 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 4: All of it was a sign that people inside the 112 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 4: detention center wanted to be heard. 113 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 5: These letters get opened before we get them, and so 114 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 5: that's how we know there's a serious case here to investigate. 115 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 5: If people are both putting themselves out there and putting 116 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 5: their bodies on the line through a hunger strike, so 117 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 5: I want there to be a real investigation. 118 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 6: People outside the detention center were also talking about the 119 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 6: unusual way that Jose had died. One Democratic congressman from 120 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 6: Tucson even called for the US Department of Justice to 121 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 6: investigate his death while activists protested recent detainees deaths. The 122 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 6: men started the hunger strike this morning. 123 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 4: Then protesters say they were kept outside. 124 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 6: In the heat by doors as retaliation, But at the 125 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 6: time ICE officials weren't saying much. 126 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It's the government 127 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: agency that is charged with detaining and deporting immigrants. And 128 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: remember that acronym because it's going to come up a lot. 129 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 6: During this episode, all they had said was that I'm 130 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 6: the man died inside the Eloid Detention Center because of 131 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 6: unknown causes. Then weeks later, ICE released another statement saying 132 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 6: that a medical examiner ruled Jose's death a suicide. 133 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 4: Hither for an interview with doctor Chess. A month and 134 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 4: a half after Hose's death, I visited doctor Gregory Hess. 135 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 4: He's the medical examiner from Pema County, Arizona, who performed 136 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 4: the autopsy and reviewed Hosse's file from when he was detained. 137 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 8: He was having what they were describing as delusional thoughts, 138 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 8: so he was trying to bang his head against the wall, 139 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 8: saying people were going to kill him. I'm just kind 140 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 8: of bizarre behavior, and he was seen by a psychologist 141 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 8: at that facility who put him on a constant suicide 142 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 8: watch for about a day. 143 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,200 Speaker 1: This was just the second day Josse was in the 144 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: detention center. He was locked up in a room alone 145 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: with a guard watching him at all times. On the 146 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: third day, the day he died, he was no longer 147 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: on suicide watch and was under far less supervision. 148 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 6: Doctor Hes, by the way, works for the county. He's 149 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 6: not connected to ICE or to the private company that 150 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 6: runs the eloid detention center. 151 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 4: Doctor Hess found a few things during the autopsy. He 152 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 4: discovered what the autopsy report called, quote blunt force injuries 153 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 4: to the head. He says he doesn't know when those injuries. 154 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 8: Occurred, whether it was during his episode of bizarre behavior, 155 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 8: whether or not he was being restrained by corrections officials, 156 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 8: whether or not he received that somehow crossing the border 157 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:26,319 Speaker 8: in the first place. 158 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,200 Speaker 6: But he says it wasn't serious. Essentially a bruce or 159 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 6: a bump on the head. 160 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 8: It doesn't have anything to do with his death. 161 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 6: It's worth noting that doctor Hess also read in Jose's 162 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 6: file that he was quote restrained by guards, which could 163 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 6: mean anything from being handcuffed to a more intense physical encounter. 164 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: Doctor has also found a white plastic candle about four 165 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: inches long inside Hosse's stomach. It appeared to be part 166 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: of a toothbrush. 167 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 8: In my opinion, he probably consumed that toothbrush prior to 168 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 8: the sock, with a thought that if I consume this 169 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 8: it will it may kill me. 170 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,200 Speaker 4: Last, and most importantly, he found the sock, a bright orange, 171 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 4: knee high thick prison sock. 172 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 8: The sock was bunched up, but essentially it was molded 173 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 8: into the esophagus, so imagine he had to work to 174 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,959 Speaker 8: make that happen a little bit. So essentially that sock 175 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:25,199 Speaker 8: was was distending and impacted within the esophagus. The most 176 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 8: of the sock was including the entrance to the trichea, 177 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 8: so basically what that is is choking. 178 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 4: The autopsy found there were no drugs in hose system, 179 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 4: nor any other medical problems that could have led to 180 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,319 Speaker 4: his death, and so after looking at the evidence, doctor 181 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 4: Hess certified Jose's death a suicide by asphyxiation. 182 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 2: With a sock. 183 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: And for many people we spoke to in the immigrant 184 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: advocacy community and detainees at ELOI, the sock was suspicious 185 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: a part of the story that didn't add up to 186 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,720 Speaker 1: them because it's hard to imagine that anybody could die 187 00:10:58,760 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: that way. 188 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 4: He has never seen a case like this before, but 189 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 4: he cautioned against thinking it's impossible. 190 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 8: It's difficult to look at people that commit suicide after 191 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 8: the fact and then rationalize actions. Why would they not 192 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 8: hang themselves instead? You know, I have no idea. Oftentimes 193 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:20,679 Speaker 8: suicides are people that aren't thinking clearly because they have 194 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 8: depression they have psychiatric illness, they may be on substances. 195 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 8: I have no idea what this individual's past medical history was, 196 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 8: but I'm sure being apprehended and thrown into a facility 197 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,760 Speaker 8: can be stressing, and maybe that's the way he reacted. 198 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 4: Is there any medical possibility that this man was murdered. No, so, 199 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:54,080 Speaker 4: what we know so far is that the medical evidence 200 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 4: shows that Hose the Hissus died by suicide after choking 201 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,320 Speaker 4: on a knee soak. But we still had other questions. 202 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:04,080 Speaker 1: How could this happen just three days after entering the 203 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: Elloyd Detention Center and who was Jose DeJesus. To answer 204 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: that question, we had to meet the Denis Sagoon family. 205 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:57,080 Speaker 1: Stay with usas Welcome back to this special edition of 206 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: Latino USA. I'm Marie no Josa with producers Nanda Charari 207 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: and Marlon Bishop. 208 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,679 Speaker 4: Okay, I'm recording. Where are we? 209 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 2: We are in a cab now. 210 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:09,679 Speaker 1: We just landed in Las Vegas and we're on our 211 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: way to meet the family of Jose Dejsus Sagoon that 212 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: has agreed to speak with us. And for me, honestly, 213 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:21,839 Speaker 1: it's a very it's a it's an uncomfortable feeling it's 214 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: going to be really hard. 215 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think so too. 216 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: I mean, I would hate to think, like if my son, 217 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 1: if something happened to my son in a foreign country, 218 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 1: that then I'd have to come back and try to 219 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,240 Speaker 1: piece it together. About a month and a half after 220 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:38,280 Speaker 1: the death of Osse Dejsus, we visited Las Vegas, where 221 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 1: his brother and sister live. His parents, who live in Mexico, 222 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 1: had flown up to Vegas to spend some time with 223 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 1: the family after the tragedy. 224 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 4: Our taxi pulls into a brand new looking suburban subdivision 225 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 4: and we get out at a handsome ranch house. You ready. 226 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: Joss's brother Gabriel opens the door and invites us Innis Somananis. 227 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 1: The family is seated at the kitchen table eating takeout. 228 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: We're greeted by Jose's father, Silverio, a man with sad 229 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: eyes and a big silver mustache. 230 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 4: He says the pain they're feeling is deep, and over 231 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 4: the course of several hours, the family shares Jose's story. 232 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: Silvererio and his wife Elisa managed a small hotel on 233 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,280 Speaker 1: the coast of Mexico, and their kids grew up on 234 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 1: the grounds. Jose was the second oldest His nickname in 235 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: the family was Pecoso because of his freckles. 236 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 9: He was that kind of brother that he used to 237 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,560 Speaker 9: protect us from everything or anything. 238 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 6: Gabriel is five years younger than Jose, and he looked 239 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 6: up to his big brother. 240 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 9: He was kind, he have a good heart, and he 241 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 9: was brave on his life. 242 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 4: When Jose de Hesu's turned nineteen, like many young men 243 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 4: from his little town, he decided to try his luck 244 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 4: in the US. He came without papers and found work 245 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 4: as a plumber here in Las Vegas. 246 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 9: He wish he can be born in this country. He 247 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 9: always used to say that I want to be American. 248 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 9: I don't know why I am born in Mexico. 249 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: Jose met a woman here and they had three kids. 250 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: But seven years after Jose arrived in the state, his father, 251 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: seen Video, became very sick with a heart condition. They 252 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: weren't sure if he would live much longer, and Jose 253 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: returned to Mexico so they could spend some time together. 254 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 6: His girlfriend and kids came with him to Mexico. There 255 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 6: they got married, but the relationship soured quickly, so his 256 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 6: wife and kids went back to Vegas. They had legal 257 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 6: status in the US, but Jose didn't. 258 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 9: My brother was stuck in Mexico, always trying to come 259 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 9: back to fight for his kids. 260 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 6: You know. 261 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 4: For five years, Jose lived with his parents in Mexico, 262 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:49,440 Speaker 4: doing odd jobs to help his dad and dreaming of 263 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 4: reuniting with his kids. By that point, his brother and 264 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 4: sister had moved to the US. He missed them a 265 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:00,200 Speaker 4: lot too. The siblings stayed in touch on Facebook sharing photos. 266 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:02,360 Speaker 2: Yes, these are great photographs. 267 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: So this is a photograph of Jose dejess who's doing 268 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 1: a headstand on the with the ocean right next to him, 269 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 1: and his little boy doing a headstand right next to 270 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: him as well. In the photos we see a man 271 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,720 Speaker 1: with short, dark brown hair, light skin, and green eyes. 272 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: Often Jose wears a closely trimmed beard and a chain 273 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: around his neck with a cross on it. His siblings 274 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 1: describe him as a jokester and something of a ham. 275 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 4: In the years he was living back in Mexico, Jose 276 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 4: tried to cross the border to get back into the 277 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 4: States twice. Both times he was caught and deported. Then, 278 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 4: in May twenty fifteen, the day after his thirty first birthday, 279 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 4: he decided to try again. 280 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:50,040 Speaker 10: Jord Longo lotengo bim presente kiss thing. 281 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: The first step was to take a plane to get 282 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 1: close to the border. Sint Verrio gave Jose a lift 283 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: to the airport. It was the last time he saw 284 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: his son, and he remembers it very clearly. Mbez. He 285 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:06,919 Speaker 1: told to go with God and with the Virgin and 286 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: gave him a kiss on the forehead in medio Papa, 287 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 1: I love you very much, dad, Jose told him, and 288 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,480 Speaker 1: then with a hug and a kiss off he went. 289 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,880 Speaker 6: Josef Lutuemosillo in the north of Mexico. His family paid 290 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 6: for the services of a coyote, as smugglers who guide 291 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 6: immigrants across the border are known, and the smuggler took 292 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,159 Speaker 6: him to a safe house in Awaprieta, just across the 293 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 6: border from Arizona. There they'd wait for the right moment 294 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:38,640 Speaker 6: to walk through the desert into the US and. 295 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 4: Just to zoom out for a second. Crossing the border 296 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 4: is a really, really dangerous thing to do. The coyotes 297 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:46,640 Speaker 4: job is to get their people across, but there are 298 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 4: all kinds of things that can happen. There's the natural 299 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,719 Speaker 4: dangers of dehydration and getting lost in the desert. And 300 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:55,679 Speaker 4: then there's the human dangers cartels and gang members who 301 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,879 Speaker 4: seek to rip off migrants, corrupt cops and border towns, 302 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 4: bad coyotes who double crossed the people they're ferrying across. 303 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,719 Speaker 4: For female migrants, sexual assaults are really common. Sometimes everything 304 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 4: works out fine, other times it doesn't. 305 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:13,679 Speaker 6: And in jo Say's case, something goes very wrong at 306 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 6: the border, and this is where things start to get 307 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 6: confusing to piece together. 308 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 4: The day after he leaves home Friday night, around midnight, Rosario, 309 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 4: that's Jose's sister in Las Vegas, she gets a call 310 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:24,679 Speaker 4: from her brother. 311 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 11: Helas this dormi. 312 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 6: Josset tells her they're about to cross the border earlier 313 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 6: than expected. She says, great, call me when you get 314 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:38,119 Speaker 6: to Phoenix and we'll come pick you up. 315 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:41,239 Speaker 4: Then over the phone, she hears an argument between two 316 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 4: people yelling as to those persona. 317 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 6: Somebody mentions a commandante, a commander, but she can't really 318 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 6: hear what they're saying. 319 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:56,800 Speaker 4: The call drops. Five minutes later, Jose calls her back 320 00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 4: and now he's running and saying the smuggler wanted to 321 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 4: kill him, and he said, sounds really panicked. She's never 322 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 4: heard him sound so scared in her life. While they're 323 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:10,879 Speaker 4: on the phone, he flags down a car and offers 324 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,280 Speaker 4: the driver money to take him to the official border 325 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 4: checkpoint there. While he's still on the phone with his sister, 326 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,480 Speaker 4: he runs up to US border patrol and hands himself in, 327 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 4: saying he needs protection. 328 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: So you felt like he was going to be safe 329 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: because he was in American agent's hands. 330 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 4: That was my first thing. 331 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 9: He was in good hands. Looks after that, we can 332 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 9: get a lawyer or do something, take him to court, 333 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:37,679 Speaker 9: or whatever we can. 334 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:38,159 Speaker 4: Do for him. 335 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 6: In the morning, their mom in Mexico gets a call 336 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 6: from the smuggler with a different story. He tells her 337 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:46,199 Speaker 6: that Jose disappeared. He said he was going out to 338 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,640 Speaker 6: the store to get some juice and never came back. 339 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 4: Whatever happened, Jose ends up in US custody near the border. 340 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,159 Speaker 4: We know that much. Then two days later, on Monday morning, 341 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 4: Rosario gets another call from her brother. He tells her 342 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 4: he's been taken to the Elloyd detention set a few 343 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 4: hours north in Arizona. 344 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: When he calls you, what did he sound like, blas, 345 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,000 Speaker 1: she says, he sounded excited to be in the US, 346 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: but was anxious to get out of detention. She tells 347 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 1: him be patient, We're going to find a lawyer and 348 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:20,440 Speaker 1: we're going to get you out. 349 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,919 Speaker 4: Over the next two days, Gabrielle and Rosadio call the 350 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 4: detention center several times, hoping to check up on their brother, 351 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,520 Speaker 4: but they're never able to speak with him. They're told 352 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 4: that they have to first put money on an account 353 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,160 Speaker 4: for him, then wait a while, and then Jose can 354 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 4: call them. 355 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 6: What they're not told is that he was acting bizarrely, 356 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 6: or that he was seen by a psychiatrist, or that 357 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 6: he was put on suicide watch. 358 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 4: According to the accounts of other detainees, Jose at this 359 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,439 Speaker 4: point is desperate to talk to his family. At the 360 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,600 Speaker 4: same time, all his family wants to do is to 361 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 4: talk to him, but it doesn't happen. 362 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: The last time his siblings try to call is on Wednesday. 363 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,639 Speaker 1: The same afternoon, Jose dies. 364 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,879 Speaker 9: Right after five, and I call it at attention center 365 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:04,160 Speaker 9: asking for my brother, and the guy goes like, oh, 366 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,960 Speaker 9: hold on, you can't talk to him right now. You 367 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 9: got a callback tomorrow between seventy three. The next morning, 368 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 9: she hera caw from the Mexican consul saying that they 369 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,480 Speaker 9: found my brother dead in his sail. 370 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 6: In shock, Gabrielle and Rosario drive straight from Las Vegas 371 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 6: to Tucson, where Jose's body is being held. They retrieve 372 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 6: it and hold awake in a local funeral home. 373 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: Seeing her brother lying in the coffin, Rosario was overcome. 374 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:38,400 Speaker 1: She says she leaned over the casket and spoke to him. 375 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,879 Speaker 1: What did they do to you? She said, why didn't 376 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: you defend yourself? 377 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 2: How come you didn't wait for me? 378 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:48,920 Speaker 4: No, miss pan As. 379 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:52,560 Speaker 1: Forgive me brother for having failed you. 380 00:21:53,600 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 12: They got you in it Portia, hear other mano. 381 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,679 Speaker 4: After hearing the story from the family, we didn't know 382 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 4: what to think. On one hand, his behavior at the 383 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 4: border sounds erradic You know, he's running, he's panicked, he's 384 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 4: yelling on the phone to his sister that the coyote 385 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 4: wants to kill him. And remember, according to the documents 386 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 4: reviewed by the medical Examiner, he was acting strangely in 387 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,639 Speaker 4: the tension a few days later. So it's possible that 388 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 4: Jose de Jessus was having some kind of paranoid episode 389 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 4: at the border. But on the other hand, it's totally plausible, 390 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,920 Speaker 4: given the realities of crossing the border, that somebody actually 391 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:41,920 Speaker 4: was trying to kill him, So maybe he was acting 392 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 4: rationally and US authorities thought he was crazy when he 393 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 4: was really just scared. 394 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 6: As for the events after he was in US custody, 395 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:52,679 Speaker 6: the family has even less information. They just don't know 396 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 6: much about what went on inside the Eloid Detention Center 397 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:57,640 Speaker 6: on the days leading up to his death. 398 00:22:58,000 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 11: We needed truth. 399 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:05,480 Speaker 4: We need to see their recording tapes. That's what we want, 400 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 4: the recording tapes. 401 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,879 Speaker 1: Gabella is talking about surveillance footage. He knows the medical 402 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 1: examiner watched is video that could have major clues as 403 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 1: to what happened to Jose. But getting those tapes won't 404 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:18,959 Speaker 1: be so easy. 405 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 4: Technically, anybody can ask a government agency for things like 406 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 4: documents or videos, and the government is supposed to try 407 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 4: and fill those requests, and that's because of transparency laws. 408 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:31,360 Speaker 4: One of those laws is called the Freedom of Information 409 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 4: Act or FOYA for sure. 410 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,160 Speaker 6: So in this case, we wrote up a few foyas. 411 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,399 Speaker 6: We asked Eyes for all documents relating to Hose's case, 412 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 6: video of his last day and attention, a list of 413 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,439 Speaker 6: staff working at Eloy at the time, and some other stuff. 414 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:45,320 Speaker 6: And then we waited. 415 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: Because usually these public record requests take a long time 416 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: to fill. 417 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:52,639 Speaker 6: And sometimes the government ends up either denying these requests 418 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 6: or severely redacting what they give you, leaving reporters and 419 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:57,879 Speaker 6: families with unanswered questions. 420 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:01,119 Speaker 4: And the lack of transparency is especially problem for facilities 421 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 4: that are run by private companies. You've probably heard of 422 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,440 Speaker 4: the private prison industry. For decades, the government has been 423 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 4: contracting out correctional services that is the work of imprisoning 424 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:15,440 Speaker 4: people for criminal violations, to private companies, companies that staff 425 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:19,399 Speaker 4: and build and operate prisons. That's also true for immigrant attention, 426 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 4: and they're the same companies doing both. 427 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 6: So immigrant attention is like prison in a lot of ways. 428 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 6: When you arrive, your strip search, fingerprinted, given a uniform, 429 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 6: and taken to a cell. But unlike prisons, the people 430 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:35,919 Speaker 6: inside are held because of immigration violations, which are not 431 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,400 Speaker 6: criminal charges. They haven't been found guilty in a courtroom 432 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 6: or been given a sentence. Here's Grace meng, a senior 433 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:44,240 Speaker 6: researcher at Human Rights Watch. 434 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:48,080 Speaker 13: Because it's not like a criminal justice system, in some ways, 435 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:53,120 Speaker 13: it can be more traumatic. It is indefinite, there's no sentence. 436 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,200 Speaker 13: People have told me if I knew when I was 437 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 13: getting out, that would be one thing, but I don't 438 00:24:58,080 --> 00:24:59,879 Speaker 13: know when I'm going to get out. 439 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 6: Some detension last a couple of weeks, for others it's 440 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 6: months or even years. 441 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:06,120 Speaker 13: I'm at a mat a couple of weeks ago who 442 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:08,919 Speaker 13: spent nine years and four months in immigration dettension fighting 443 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 13: his case, and the psychological toll is enormous. 444 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 6: And what makes this more challenging is having to navigate 445 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 6: this whole process without a lawyer. 446 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,239 Speaker 14: Unlike in the criminal context, an individual who's in our 447 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 14: custody is not entitled to free legal services. 448 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:30,240 Speaker 1: That's Liz Cityopreta. She's a high ranking official within Ice 449 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,680 Speaker 1: cityop Aida says that people who are in ice custody 450 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 1: have to either hire someone to represent them, find a 451 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,159 Speaker 1: pro bono lawyer, or try to represent themselves. 452 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:44,240 Speaker 14: These are civil immigration proceedings, not criminal proceedings, and therefore 453 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 14: no constitutional right to counsel. 454 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 4: So immigrant detainees don't have many of the same rights 455 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 4: as prisoners in the criminal system. That's maybe why so 456 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 4: many of them end up staying in detention longer than 457 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 4: they should. 458 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 1: And at the time we originally produced this report, I 459 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,520 Speaker 1: says over three hundred thousand people went through the detention 460 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: system yearly. 461 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 14: It's a difficult thing to manage alone, and we depend 462 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 14: on vendors who can provide the services that we need 463 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,479 Speaker 14: to accommodate all of those varying needs from the global 464 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:13,920 Speaker 14: population which we hold in our custody. 465 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:18,640 Speaker 11: Our destination, the best full service adult correction system. Our 466 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:19,719 Speaker 11: vision is our motivation. 467 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: This is sound from a promotional video for one of 468 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:27,160 Speaker 1: those vendors, CCA, the Corrections Corporation of America, which runs 469 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:28,679 Speaker 1: the Elloy Detention Center. 470 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,199 Speaker 6: CCA, which has since changed its name to core Civic, 471 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 6: is one of the largest private prison corporations running detention 472 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 6: centers for ICE. The government spends somewhere between seventy and 473 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,440 Speaker 6: one hundred and twenty dollars a night for every detaining 474 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:43,080 Speaker 6: day hold. 475 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 11: Think of seventeen thousand employees. 476 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 3: We combine the accountability of government with the efficiency of business. 477 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,719 Speaker 15: People in the detention centers sort of knew that ELOI 478 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,439 Speaker 15: was the worst of the worst. 479 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,879 Speaker 1: This is Victoria Lopez. She's a lawyer for the ACO 480 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 1: in Phoenix and works a lot with immigrants and detention. 481 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 15: At ELOI, constant complaints about medical care, mental health care 482 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 15: being placed in segregation without knowing why or knowing when 483 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:11,880 Speaker 15: you'd get out. 484 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 6: We should mention that we requested an interview with CCA, 485 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,560 Speaker 6: but we're denied that. Instead, CCA officials said that they 486 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 6: would respond to some questions in writing, so we sent 487 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:23,000 Speaker 6: questions but got no response. 488 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: Despite its reputation, Eloy has passed all of ICE's compliance 489 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,280 Speaker 1: tests that are supposed to make sure everything is going 490 00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:33,440 Speaker 1: well and that the detention center is meeting basic standards. 491 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,120 Speaker 6: Yet Eloy is also the detention center that has had 492 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 6: the most deaths. 493 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 15: It's in the middle of the desert in Arizona. It's 494 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 15: one of these places where you're just driving in the 495 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:45,400 Speaker 15: desert and all of a sudden you see this massive 496 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:52,400 Speaker 15: prison in the middle of the desert landscape ten south. 497 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,240 Speaker 1: A few months after Jose's death, Marlon and I paid 498 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,119 Speaker 1: a visit to the Eloy Detention Center to get a 499 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: sense of what it's like to be detained there. 500 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:05,160 Speaker 4: The actual town of Eloi is about an hour outside 501 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,719 Speaker 4: of Phoenix, and basically it's a tiny company town for CCA. 502 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 4: There are three CIA prisons in Eloi in addition to 503 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,480 Speaker 4: the detention center, including one that holds almost all of 504 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,440 Speaker 4: the male prisoners from Hawaii. Yeah, if you're a man 505 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 4: convicted of a crime in Hawaii, you might get put 506 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,000 Speaker 4: on a plane and flow into this little town in Arizona. 507 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: We arrive at the Eloy Immigrant Detention Center, enter through 508 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,399 Speaker 1: a large chain link gate, and walk into a building 509 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:30,720 Speaker 1: where visitors are received. 510 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 4: After Jose's death, reporters were asking to come in and 511 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,120 Speaker 4: see what was going on, including us, and so Ice 512 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 4: arranged for us to take part in a press. 513 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: Tour, a very tightly controlled press tour. 514 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:45,800 Speaker 4: Yes, the rules were strict. No talking with detainees, no 515 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,720 Speaker 4: photos of anyone above the waist, and no recording or 516 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 4: quoting the comments of any government or CCA employment. Over 517 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 4: the course of several hours, they lead us through the 518 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 4: spaces typical of what you'd imagine in a high security prison. 519 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 1: Trab, gray, cement buildings two stories high, and fencing and. 520 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 2: Razor wire everywhere. 521 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:08,960 Speaker 11: Literally everywhere. 522 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 4: They took us to the so called tanks where the 523 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 4: tamies live, cement floor, the wreck. 524 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: Yard, a couple of basketball nets. 525 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 4: The chow hal mush, the commissary. 526 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: There's salt and pepper, McCormick hot taco seasoning. 527 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 4: And what was really eerie about being there was looking 528 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 4: at people's feet because everyone was wearing identical thick orange socks, 529 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 4: the same type Jose choked on. 530 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,080 Speaker 1: And what was more striking was something that happened in 531 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: the parking lot. We met a woman named Susie Morales. 532 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: She was there to pick up her elderly grandmother who 533 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:43,480 Speaker 1: was inside the detention stage. 534 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 16: Old my grandma, and she's diabetic, slightly goin blindness. Why 535 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,680 Speaker 16: they decided to let her go because they thought that 536 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 16: someone with in that high ended age they shouldn't. She 537 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 16: shouldn't be here. 538 00:29:58,160 --> 00:29:59,480 Speaker 11: It's just overwhelming. 539 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:01,400 Speaker 16: It's a place you don't want to see your grandma 540 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 16: ind because you think the worst. You think that she's 541 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 16: behind bars when she's never committed anything. 542 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 4: And that's the thing that was most striking about being 543 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 4: in Eloy. For all intents and purposes, it's this intimidating prison. 544 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,480 Speaker 4: Yet looking around, I was really aware that the people 545 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:20,720 Speaker 4: I was seeing weren't violent criminals. I mean, yes, some 546 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 4: do have criminal records, there's no doubt about that, but 547 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,600 Speaker 4: a lot of them don't. And so I couldn't help 548 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 4: but think about Jose, who didn't have a criminal record, 549 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,320 Speaker 4: showed up at the border asking for help and ended 550 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:31,760 Speaker 4: up here. 551 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,880 Speaker 1: After the tour, we were allowed to interview two detainees briefly. 552 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 1: They didn't witness Josse his death, so we didn't learn 553 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,080 Speaker 1: much from them. But before we left, we passed them 554 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: a piece of paper with our phone numbers on it, 555 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: and we asked them, if you hear of anyone that 556 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:49,680 Speaker 1: has any information about Jose, let us know. 557 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:52,520 Speaker 4: So the tour ends, we go back home to New York. 558 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 4: Months go by, and then one day I get this 559 00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:57,160 Speaker 4: text message. It was kind of a reporter's dream. 560 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 6: It just said in Spanish, my name is Juan Castillo Peis. 561 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,920 Speaker 6: I witnessed the death of Jose Jesu's de Nis Sagon. 562 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:14,920 Speaker 4: Please call me so right away, Fernanda and I called him. Hello. 563 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino USA, we meet the man who 564 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: sent us that mysterious text message. 565 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 2: Not the bias. 566 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:18,800 Speaker 1: Welcome back to this special edition of Latino USA. I'm 567 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:22,240 Speaker 1: Marieojosa with producers Marlon Bishop and Fernando Chavari. 568 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:24,600 Speaker 6: When we left off, we had just gotten a text 569 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 6: message from an unknown number. It was a man named 570 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 6: Juan Castillo Peris, saying he had witnessed the death of 571 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 6: Jose de Jesus. 572 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 4: So right away Fernanda and I call him hello. Castillo 573 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,600 Speaker 4: One tells us he was in the medical unit recovering 574 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 4: from a broken leg in a room directly across from Jose. 575 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 4: He since has been deported back to Mexico. He says 576 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 4: he used to work as a police detective in Central 577 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 4: Mexico back in the day, and he kind of talks 578 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 4: like a no nonsense detective from an old movie. 579 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,360 Speaker 6: Kwan tells us that he was probably the last person 580 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:02,320 Speaker 6: to ever speak with Jose. He says a few hours 581 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 6: before his death, Jose was escorted out of his locked 582 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 6: room and taken to the shower. That's when the two 583 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 6: of them briefly talked. Juan told Jose to cheer up 584 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 6: because he had heard Jose make comments about wanting to die, 585 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:16,640 Speaker 6: so Juan told him to be careful with those thoughts, 586 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 6: that he was young and that life was worth living, and. 587 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,240 Speaker 4: He says Jose responded with a sort of don't worry, 588 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:28,440 Speaker 4: Everything's cool. Juan says he was there when the guards 589 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:31,080 Speaker 4: noticed Jose was inside his cell and not responding. 590 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:33,959 Speaker 6: He remembers hearing a guard call out Jose's name and 591 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 6: bang on his door during one of the checkups, and 592 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:38,880 Speaker 6: After a few minutes, that guard called for help on 593 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 6: the radio. That's when Juan and the other detainees were 594 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:43,040 Speaker 6: asked to go back in their cells. 595 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 4: Juan thinks that Jose should not have been taken off 596 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:46,360 Speaker 4: suicide watch. 597 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 6: If Jose had been monitored twenty four to seven, he says, 598 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 6: maybe he wouldn't have killed himself. And Juan tells us 599 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 6: something else that we hadn't heard yet, that the guards 600 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 6: responded too slowly, that they could have saved Hose. 601 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 4: Okay, so so far in our reporting, we have a 602 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 4: witness that says Jose could have been saved if the 603 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,440 Speaker 4: medical response was faster. We have detaining letters that claim 604 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,120 Speaker 4: that Jose was heard screaming and suggests that maybe he 605 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:21,160 Speaker 4: was mistreated inside the detention center. And we have the 606 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:23,120 Speaker 4: phone calls Jose made to his sister in the desert 607 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:25,480 Speaker 4: that paint a picture, an incomplete one, but a picture 608 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 4: of what happened at the border. 609 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 6: But a question that still looms for us is what 610 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,359 Speaker 6: was going on for him throughout all of this. If 611 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,280 Speaker 6: Jose had no history of mental illness, as his family 612 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:39,839 Speaker 6: has told us, how did he suddenly become suicidal? So 613 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,720 Speaker 6: we decided to take a trip to Jose's hometown in Mexico, 614 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,719 Speaker 6: where he was just seven days before he died. We 615 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:48,600 Speaker 6: went in search of clues and we ended up finding one. 616 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:53,719 Speaker 16: Welcome to mons and Niyo's airport for your information local time. 617 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:57,080 Speaker 1: MOSE's parents, Siberio and Elissa, and live on a property 618 00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 1: they've managed for thirty years on a remote beach on 619 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:03,000 Speaker 1: Mexican Goes West coast near Mansanillo. It's like a small 620 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,640 Speaker 1: motel with a pool in the middle and the Pacific 621 00:35:05,719 --> 00:35:10,799 Speaker 1: Ocean as a backdrop. Yora, Jose's parents take us to 622 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:13,560 Speaker 1: his bedroom. There is an elliptical in the corner, a 623 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:16,840 Speaker 1: bed against the wall, and a dresser, and everything is 624 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:18,799 Speaker 1: just as it was the de Jose left. 625 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,880 Speaker 6: The only thing that's changed is now there's an altar 626 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:29,040 Speaker 6: for Jose or Silverio and Elsa come to pray and 627 00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 6: sometimes with the help of a plastic electronic grocery. 628 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:42,319 Speaker 1: Josse's eleven year old nephew, Pepito, also lives here, and 629 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:43,960 Speaker 1: he says he used to spend a lot of time 630 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:49,760 Speaker 1: with his uncle playing video games in this room. 631 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 4: He thought of Jose as an older brother. 632 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,399 Speaker 1: He says his uncle was a little shy and would 633 00:35:57,400 --> 00:35:59,800 Speaker 1: spend a lot of time in his room keeping to himself. 634 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 6: And actually, Pepito is the only one in the family 635 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:06,080 Speaker 6: who says Jose wasn't this happy, outgoing person like everyone 636 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,800 Speaker 6: else told us he was. Pepito says he was sad 637 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:11,239 Speaker 6: sometimes and that the only thing that seemed to cheer 638 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,480 Speaker 6: him up was talking to his kids on FaceTime. 639 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:18,280 Speaker 15: Lsue. 640 00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 6: We follow the Nisagun family on a twenty minute drive 641 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:30,560 Speaker 6: to a tiny cemetery with only a couple dozen other gravestones. 642 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:33,319 Speaker 6: The sun is about to set, and shortly after we 643 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:41,480 Speaker 6: get there, there's a large group of vultures circling over us. 644 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:44,680 Speaker 6: The family built a raised grave for Jose out of 645 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,360 Speaker 6: cement and tile, the kind you see in rural Mexico. 646 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,279 Speaker 6: They decorated it with a large cross held up by 647 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:53,480 Speaker 6: wooden posts, but all of that was destroyed by the 648 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:54,839 Speaker 6: most recent hurricane. 649 00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:58,560 Speaker 1: Standing over his grave, they refused to believe Jose could 650 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:01,319 Speaker 1: have killed himself, but because the thought of their son 651 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: doing that is unbearable, and also because they're devout Catholics, 652 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,640 Speaker 1: Dan the biggest sin one can commit is suicide, sid 653 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:17,360 Speaker 1: Verdio says, and there's no way my son could have 654 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:17,680 Speaker 1: done that. 655 00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:19,640 Speaker 4: No, no. 656 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:22,320 Speaker 1: Dress. 657 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:25,400 Speaker 4: Before we leave, we ask if there's anyone else outside 658 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,399 Speaker 4: of the family that we can talk to who knew Jose, 659 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:29,919 Speaker 4: a doctor or maybe a priest. 660 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:32,160 Speaker 6: And they give us a phone number for their family doctor. 661 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,040 Speaker 6: So we call him and he says he actually treated 662 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:38,000 Speaker 6: Jose just months before he died, and that he's willing 663 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,399 Speaker 6: to talk to us about why Jose came to see him. 664 00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:47,920 Speaker 17: Doctor Juan Manuel Aragon moraleses La Medicina. 665 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,560 Speaker 6: Doctor Juan Manuel Aragon Morales has been treating people in 666 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:54,640 Speaker 6: this small town for forty one years, and in March 667 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:58,439 Speaker 6: of twenty fifteen, he remembers getting a call from Jose's parents. 668 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:02,319 Speaker 11: Pork and Muitriste. 669 00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:07,960 Speaker 6: Primo Silverio and Elisa brought Jose to doctor Aragon. They 670 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:10,600 Speaker 6: told him that they noticed Jose was sad, he didn't 671 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:12,800 Speaker 6: want to do anything and seemed depressed. 672 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:15,560 Speaker 11: Guerro de precivo modevo. 673 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:18,959 Speaker 6: The doctor asked Jose a few questions. He asked Jose 674 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,680 Speaker 6: if he had trouble sleeping, and he said yes. He 675 00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:24,040 Speaker 6: asked if he had ever thought of ending his life, 676 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:26,279 Speaker 6: and Jose told the doctor he had. 677 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:31,760 Speaker 17: Cynthia and La Vida and consulta. 678 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,600 Speaker 1: According to doctor Aragon, Jose did not seem to be 679 00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:38,520 Speaker 1: suffering from clinical depression. Instead, he had what the doctor 680 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:43,320 Speaker 1: called moderate situational depression. That's the sort of temporary depression 681 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:45,759 Speaker 1: that you might feel when somebody dies or after the 682 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:49,240 Speaker 1: end of a relationship. In this case, Jose was missing 683 00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:50,560 Speaker 1: his kids terribly. 684 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:55,160 Speaker 4: Hey, look as Usio, the doctor told Jose, had taken 685 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,880 Speaker 4: over the counter antidepressant every night before going. 686 00:38:57,760 --> 00:38:59,880 Speaker 11: To bed sai Yama Mirtazapina. 687 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:03,239 Speaker 4: About twenty days later, the doctor saw Jose again. By 688 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:05,360 Speaker 4: then he looked much better. He was more active, and 689 00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:07,880 Speaker 4: the medication seemed to be working. A month after that, 690 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:09,960 Speaker 4: he saw him again and there was even more improvement. 691 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:14,280 Speaker 6: Doctor Adragon says that yes, Jose was emotionally more fragile 692 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:17,440 Speaker 6: than someone who hadn't suffered from depression, but he did 693 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:20,799 Speaker 6: not believe at the time that Jose was suicidal. He 694 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,239 Speaker 6: told Jose to continue taking the antidepressants and wait to 695 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:27,000 Speaker 6: get his papers sorted out before trying to cross the 696 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:29,080 Speaker 6: US Mexico border to see his kids. 697 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:31,759 Speaker 1: That would be the last time they saw each other. 698 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:50,000 Speaker 6: We just left the doctor's office and we walked down 699 00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:52,560 Speaker 6: to a little restaurant. 700 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:54,480 Speaker 1: So I have to say that the first words out 701 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:57,000 Speaker 1: of his mouth maybe heroes. 702 00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:59,880 Speaker 2: They just I went co. 703 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:02,680 Speaker 1: His parents brought him here because he. 704 00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:05,440 Speaker 4: Was depressed, after telling us a hundred times that he 705 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:06,600 Speaker 4: was never depressed. 706 00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:11,000 Speaker 6: Part of what I'm thinking, and especially having grown up 707 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,200 Speaker 6: in Mexico, where any kind of mental illness, any kind 708 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:18,520 Speaker 6: of depression, it's not something that families talk about in Mexico. 709 00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:21,440 Speaker 6: There is a lot of shame that comes with admitting 710 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,200 Speaker 6: to having any kind of problem like this. Yes, I'm 711 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,080 Speaker 6: shocked because the parents kept saying over and over that 712 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:28,120 Speaker 6: he didn't have any problems. But in some ways I'm 713 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:29,000 Speaker 6: not surprised. 714 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,239 Speaker 4: Yet they gave us the doctor's contact, knowing that the 715 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:36,040 Speaker 4: doctor knew something. Maybe it's that they wanted us to know, 716 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:38,879 Speaker 4: but they couldn't say the words themselves, almost because it's 717 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:39,480 Speaker 4: so painful. 718 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:44,080 Speaker 6: It's our last day in Mexico, and when we get 719 00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:46,560 Speaker 6: back to our hotel, I check my email and there's 720 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:51,400 Speaker 6: something from ICE. It says final response to Foyer request. 721 00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:54,680 Speaker 1: This seems unusual because it's been only a month since 722 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:57,840 Speaker 1: we sent our request on Jose's case, and these things 723 00:40:57,920 --> 00:40:59,720 Speaker 1: usually take a long time. 724 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:02,960 Speaker 6: We're hoping these are the documents we're requested, or maybe 725 00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:06,320 Speaker 6: even the surveillance footage that we asked for, But it's neither. 726 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:09,680 Speaker 6: It's just a letter, Dear miss Ichavai. This is the 727 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,560 Speaker 6: final response to your Freedom of Information Act request to 728 00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:16,239 Speaker 6: you all sechhersonnel, doctors, nurses, et cetera who were on 729 00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:19,120 Speaker 6: duty on May twenty as twentytions for records responsive to 730 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:23,560 Speaker 6: your request produced one Excel spreadsheet will be withheld in 731 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:27,160 Speaker 6: its entirety pursuant you have the right to appeal. Isis 732 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,760 Speaker 6: withholding determination and that is all we got, which means 733 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:34,920 Speaker 6: we have been formally denied access to any video that 734 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:38,120 Speaker 6: ever existed from the day of the death of Jose, 735 00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:39,840 Speaker 6: the Jessus, the nis Shallum. 736 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:54,279 Speaker 4: So we leave Mexico knowing more about who Jose was. 737 00:41:54,719 --> 00:41:56,520 Speaker 4: We know that he had felt depressed and that he 738 00:41:56,560 --> 00:41:59,399 Speaker 4: was taking antidepressants at the direction of his doctor. 739 00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:01,319 Speaker 6: But we don't I don't know when he stopped taking 740 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,200 Speaker 6: the antidepressants. What we do know is that, according to 741 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:06,480 Speaker 6: the autopsy, they were not in his system at the 742 00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:07,080 Speaker 6: time he died. 743 00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:11,200 Speaker 4: So this question comes up. If he was already emotionally unstable, 744 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:13,560 Speaker 4: how did being detained affect his mental state. 745 00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:17,920 Speaker 6: We leave Mexico still searching for some documentation of what 746 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:22,240 Speaker 6: happened to Jose inside the detention center, answers that perhaps 747 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,720 Speaker 6: could be in the reports and video that we were denied. 748 00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:27,400 Speaker 1: So we come back to New York City feeling like 749 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:28,960 Speaker 1: we're never going to get what we need. 750 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:33,239 Speaker 4: Then a week later, for none that gets a call. 751 00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:37,280 Speaker 6: It literally said on the caller id city of Eloi, 752 00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:40,000 Speaker 6: all in caps. So I pick up the phone and 753 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:42,560 Speaker 6: it's a woman that works for the local police department. 754 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,480 Speaker 6: Now let's pause for a second. Remember how earlier in 755 00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:47,920 Speaker 6: the episode we talked about how we requested all this 756 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:51,520 Speaker 6: information and documents from ICE. That wasn't the only place 757 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:54,480 Speaker 6: where we went searching. And here's why. On the DA 758 00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:58,239 Speaker 6: Jose died, the detention center had to call nine one one, 759 00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:00,719 Speaker 6: and in doing so, the local police police department in 760 00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:03,640 Speaker 6: paramedics had to show up, leaving a paper trail of 761 00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:06,279 Speaker 6: what happened. So, a few weeks back, we had requested 762 00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:09,360 Speaker 6: all the documents regarding that incident from the small Eloi 763 00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:12,719 Speaker 6: Police department, and that's what this call was about. They 764 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:15,959 Speaker 6: had the documents ready to send via email, and it 765 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:20,560 Speaker 6: is forty eight pages completely unredacted. 766 00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:23,320 Speaker 4: And honestly, this was really unexpected. All of a sudden, 767 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:25,680 Speaker 4: we had a much better picture of what happened the 768 00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:26,600 Speaker 4: day Jose died. 769 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:30,400 Speaker 6: The police department documents include first person narratives from guards 770 00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:33,959 Speaker 6: and medical staff who were there when Jose was found unresponsive. 771 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:36,319 Speaker 6: Nobody said that when they walked in they saw a 772 00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:38,759 Speaker 6: sock in his mouth. They say, in fact, that he 773 00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:43,080 Speaker 6: was having problems breathing for things. 774 00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:45,560 Speaker 4: That nobody reached into his mouth and tried to help him, right. 775 00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:49,279 Speaker 6: Because nobody saw a sock. According to these reports, we 776 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,520 Speaker 6: also learned that Jose was still alive when the guards 777 00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:56,400 Speaker 6: entered his cell. They walked into his cell with a 778 00:43:56,400 --> 00:44:00,920 Speaker 6: protective shield and handcuffed him before Jose received medical attention. 779 00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:04,359 Speaker 4: Even if that is procedure, to me, I mean that 780 00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:07,439 Speaker 4: tells me also something about the culture of a detention center. 781 00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:10,000 Speaker 4: I mean that is that is looking at people as 782 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:10,960 Speaker 4: criminal threats. 783 00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:16,800 Speaker 1: The documents reveal that on his first day at ELOI, 784 00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:20,560 Speaker 1: Jose was with the general population and at some point 785 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:24,000 Speaker 1: guards say he was saying things like they're after me, 786 00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:26,960 Speaker 1: They're gonna kill me, the exact same things he had 787 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:29,239 Speaker 1: said to his sister on the phone when he was 788 00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:29,920 Speaker 1: at the border. 789 00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:32,720 Speaker 4: On the second day, there's an order from the psychiatrist 790 00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:35,640 Speaker 4: to put him on suicide watch, and that means he's 791 00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:38,440 Speaker 4: locked up by himself in a special cell, modified so 792 00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:41,239 Speaker 4: that there's nothing he can hurt himself with. The order 793 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:44,279 Speaker 4: says he's not to have utensils, no betting, and only 794 00:44:44,280 --> 00:44:47,040 Speaker 4: a mattress on the floor. They take away his clothes 795 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:49,719 Speaker 4: and issue him a smock that can't be torn to 796 00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:51,160 Speaker 4: create a news for example. 797 00:44:51,719 --> 00:44:54,440 Speaker 6: And there's another order from the same doctor a day 798 00:44:54,520 --> 00:44:57,839 Speaker 6: later on the third day. This one removes Jose from 799 00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:00,760 Speaker 6: suicide watch and puts him on a fifth minute watch. 800 00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:03,200 Speaker 6: He still locked up by himself and not with the 801 00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:06,520 Speaker 6: general population, but they give him back his normal uniform, 802 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:09,160 Speaker 6: including his socks, and they have a guard check on 803 00:45:09,239 --> 00:45:10,600 Speaker 6: him every fifteen minutes. 804 00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:13,680 Speaker 1: Through the documents, we find out that at the five 805 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:17,560 Speaker 1: point thirty check that evening, a guard found Jose lying 806 00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:21,239 Speaker 1: on his stomach, not moving in his cell. Less than 807 00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:23,520 Speaker 1: an hour later, he was pronounced dead. 808 00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:27,120 Speaker 6: Another thing we find is that there was a female 809 00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:30,440 Speaker 6: guard who took a video. It's some video that lasts 810 00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:33,920 Speaker 6: two minutes and fifty three seconds, and it is a 811 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:38,319 Speaker 6: video of basically the CPR that was being done on 812 00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:41,880 Speaker 6: him and the last moments of Jose de Jesus's life 813 00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:42,960 Speaker 6: inside the cell. 814 00:45:43,600 --> 00:45:45,840 Speaker 4: And the police department records say that a copy of 815 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:49,120 Speaker 4: that video was taken to their evidence room along with 816 00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:50,840 Speaker 4: copies of the surveillance video. 817 00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:54,359 Speaker 6: I requested that this morning and we could get it. 818 00:45:56,040 --> 00:45:58,439 Speaker 1: We didn't know if getting copies of those videos would 819 00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:01,440 Speaker 1: actually be possible. Local police department in the city of 820 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:03,400 Speaker 1: Eloy could deny our request. 821 00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:06,960 Speaker 6: Fast forward three weeks and we get a Manila envelope 822 00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:12,680 Speaker 6: in the mail with a CD. So I've just ripped 823 00:46:12,719 --> 00:46:15,799 Speaker 6: through this envelope and We're going to see what is 824 00:46:15,840 --> 00:46:16,239 Speaker 6: in the CD. 825 00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:17,880 Speaker 4: This is going to be intense to watch. 826 00:46:18,719 --> 00:46:22,640 Speaker 1: I mean, this is it a handheld video taken by 827 00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:25,920 Speaker 1: a guard at the exact moment guards and medical staff 828 00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:29,440 Speaker 1: enter Jose cell after they realize something is wrong. 829 00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:30,200 Speaker 2: Oh my god. 830 00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:33,520 Speaker 1: All right, so the first thing we see is actually 831 00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:37,960 Speaker 1: just a stop frame of some feet like looking like 832 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:38,960 Speaker 1: they're running. 833 00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:41,359 Speaker 6: How long the video is? How long is it? 834 00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:43,919 Speaker 2: Oh my god? 835 00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:46,720 Speaker 6: This is going to be intense people. 836 00:46:47,480 --> 00:47:11,439 Speaker 2: Okay, next time. What happens in that video? 837 00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:14,400 Speaker 1: How did the guards react, We hear more from what 838 00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:17,440 Speaker 1: ICE officials have to say about the detention system, and 839 00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:20,600 Speaker 1: a year after the death of osea Issus, a report 840 00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:23,520 Speaker 1: is released with details about what happens to him from 841 00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:26,240 Speaker 1: the moment he arrives on the US border. The report 842 00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:29,359 Speaker 1: helps answer some of the most pressing questions about the 843 00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:32,440 Speaker 1: strange death of Wose the Issus. That's next time on 844 00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:58,640 Speaker 1: Latino USA. This episode originally aired in July of twenty 845 00:47:58,680 --> 00:48:01,920 Speaker 1: sixteen and was produced by Marlon Bishop and Fernanda Chavari, 846 00:48:02,200 --> 00:48:05,640 Speaker 1: who nowadays is an immigration reporter for Mother Jones magazine. 847 00:48:06,160 --> 00:48:09,560 Speaker 1: The Strange Death of Jose de Jesus received the Robert F. 848 00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:13,799 Speaker 1: Kennedy Journalism Award. This investigation was reported with assistants from 849 00:48:13,800 --> 00:48:17,920 Speaker 1: the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering criminal justice. 850 00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:22,000 Speaker 1: Our deepest thanks to the Denise de Sagun family and 851 00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:27,560 Speaker 1: an update Silverio Denis, Jose Jesus's father passed away this year. 852 00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:31,000 Speaker 1: We are sending our deepest condolences to the family. 853 00:48:31,719 --> 00:48:36,360 Speaker 10: The Latino USA team includes Miel Massias, Sofia Parisaka, Luis Trees, 854 00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:40,680 Speaker 10: Jane Yamoca, Julia Ta Martinelli, GII Montalgo, Alises Garce and 855 00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:43,560 Speaker 10: Alejandra Sarassard with help from Roun Prees. 856 00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:47,520 Speaker 1: Our engineers are Stephanie Lebou, Julia Caruso, and Lea sham. 857 00:48:47,800 --> 00:48:51,040 Speaker 1: Our director of programming and Operations is Natalia fide Hutz. 858 00:48:51,280 --> 00:48:54,640 Speaker 1: Our digital editor is Amandel Cantra. Our New York Women's 859 00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:58,280 Speaker 1: Foundation Ignite Fellow is Julia Rocha. Our interns are Sofia 860 00:48:58,400 --> 00:49:01,600 Speaker 1: Sanchez and Marie Mendosa. Our theme music was composed by 861 00:49:01,640 --> 00:49:03,920 Speaker 1: Segnor RINOs. If you like the music you heard on 862 00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:07,640 Speaker 1: this episode, stop by Latinousa dot org and check out 863 00:49:07,680 --> 00:49:11,160 Speaker 1: our weekly Spotify playlist. I'm your host and executive producer 864 00:49:11,239 --> 00:49:11,640 Speaker 1: Marie j. 865 00:49:11,680 --> 00:49:12,000 Speaker 11: Josa. 866 00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:14,440 Speaker 1: Join us again on our next episode and me in 867 00:49:14,480 --> 00:49:17,000 Speaker 1: the meantime look for us on all of your social media. 868 00:49:17,239 --> 00:49:18,680 Speaker 1: A Stella Proxima. 869 00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:31,520 Speaker 3: Latino Usa is made possible in part by the Ford Foundation, 870 00:49:32,160 --> 00:49:36,160 Speaker 3: working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide, 871 00:49:36,800 --> 00:49:41,239 Speaker 3: the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the 872 00:49:41,320 --> 00:49:47,759 Speaker 3: Heising Simons Foundation unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities. More at 873 00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:49,759 Speaker 3: hsfoundation dot org.