DENVER (KDVR) — A new lawsuit has been filed against the privately operated migrant detention facility in Aurora, claiming that a man’s death while in custody there was entirely preventable.
That man, Nicaraguan national Melvin Ariel Calero-Mendoza, 39, died in October 2022 of a blood clot. Calero-Mendoza’s death is the third in the facility’s 38-year history, with the last detainee’s death recorded in 2017 , and seems to have come after he was injured playing soccer.
Previous coverage: Lawmakers press Aurora ICE facility for ‘increased oversight’ after death, inspections
Lawmakers who have pressed for more oversight of the facility have referred to Calero-Mendoza as an asylum seeker, but according to ICE, he was charged with illegal entry. Calero-Mendoza had applied for asylum at the U.S. southern border after his partner and mother of his children had already traveled to the U.S. and was granted asylum.
Now Calero-Mendoza’s children are suing the facility and the doctor who worked there. The lawsuit says that Calero-Mendoza had a blood clot in his leg, and complained about it for weeks. The lawsuit alleges that he asked to see a doctor for the problem multiple times…