More Oversight Needed of Immigration Detention

US to probe death of immigration detainee
Sister says police refused medicine for Milford man

By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff | August 9, 2007

A Brazilian national arrested Tuesday afternoon on a deportation warrant in Rhode Island died shortly after he was taken into federal custody, outraging family members who said authorities ignored their warnings that he had epilepsy and needed to take his medication daily.

Edmar Alves Araujo, 34, of Milford, called his sister to say he had been detained by local police after a traffic stop. Irene Araujo said she immediately brought his medication, Gardenal, to Woonsocket police headquarters, where he was being held, only to be turned away by officers who refused to accept it.

"I told them he needed the medication, and I told them he had seizure problems," Irene Araujo said yesterday. "He can't skip a day without medication."

According to Irene Araujo's account, authorities told her that if her brother had a medical condition, he could inform them himself. She said that officers then ignored her repeated pleas that it was urgent.

"They didn't give me a chance to show them or nothing," she said. "They didn't say anything."

A spokeswoman for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency confirmed yesterday that Edmar Araujo died Tuesday while in federal custody. But she declined to comment on the family's assertion that authorities were warned of Araujo's epilepsy and his need for Gardenal, a phenobarbital-based drug that helps control seizures in epileptics.

The spokeswoman, Paula Grenier, could not say if any policy would prevent the transfer of medication to a detainee.

"The well-being of our detainees is of paramount concern," she said.

Grenier said state and federal authorities will investigate the death, but she could not say which agencies would be involved. Officials from the Rhode Island State Police and the state attorney general's office said yesterday that they were not investigating Araujo's death.

Woonsocket police did not respond to repeated requests by the Globe for comment.

Irene Araujo said her brother had lived in the United States for more than five years. He had a 13-year-old son who lives in Italy, and he was working at a gas station and as a painter in Milford, she said, adding that he would send money to their 65-year-old mother in Brazil to help her pay bills.

"He was my mother's support," she said.

Araujo called her mother last night to say that Edmar had died.

Irene Araujo said her brother was driving to Woonsocket to visit her Tuesday when he was apparently pulled over for a traffic violation. Federal agents picked up Araujo at the Woonsocket police station at 3 p.m., on a deportation warrant from 2002, according to Grenier. She said she didn't know why he was initially arrested.

Grenier said Araujo was being processed at the immigration agency's Office of Detention and Removal in Providence when he showed signs of distress. She said emergency crews were notified and immigration officers attended to him until an ambulance arrived. He was pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence at 4:18 p.m.

Irene Araujo, who speaks English with a Portuguese accent, said that after she was turned away on Tuesday, she asked police in Milford, where officers speak Portuguese, to relay her concerns to Woonsocket police. In addition, she said, a friend tried to bring the medication to authorities yesterday morning, only to learn that Araujo had died.

Because family members fear reprisal due to their immigration status, they were reluctant to complain directly to authorities yesterday.

Instead, a Woonsocket businessman who employed another Araujo relative has spoken to federal authorities on their behalf.

Vera Dias-Freitas, a community advocate from Framingham, said Irene Araujo contacted her after being turned away at the Woonsocket police station.

Dias-Freitas questioned why authorities would not respond to the sister's concerns.

"It's a human thing," Dias-Frietas said. "I think people forget to think we are human."

Shuya Ohno, of the Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said the death highlights the ongoing concerns of immigrant-rights groups about the immigration agency's treatment of detainees.

"This is a story we hear all the time. They don't let people get their medication," he said. "What should be shocking news isn't that shocking."

Correction: Because of incorrect information provided to the Globe, a Page One story and a photo caption yesterday misspelled the first name of Edimar Alves Araujo, an immigrant from Brazil who died in federal custody Tuesday in Rhode Island.