Salvadoran native arrested in Prince William dies in ICE custody

For four days Daniel Ramirez couldn’t find his nephew, Anibal Ramirez, who it turned out was in the custody Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Anibal Ramirez, a 37-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was arrested on Sept. 26 by Virginia State Police and turned over to ICE on Sept. 27, according to an ICE press release.

He died Sunday at the University of Virginia  Medical Center in Charlottesville of liver failure, the release stated.

Daniel Ramirez, who held a press conference along with Mexicans Without Borders in front of the jail in Manassas Monday, said that the family couldn’t find Anibal Ramirez or learn anything about the charges against him until they got a phone call from ICE officials Saturday. That's when immigration officials told them Anibal Ramirez was in the hospital in critical condition with little chance of surviving.

“He was in bad condition. He was laid down in the bed with many lines in his body and his mouth,” the Dale City man said.

Anibal Ramirez’s cousin Danny Ramirez said that Anibal never showed any signs of being sick before he was arrested.

“Not once did he mention pain or anything that would lead us to think that he was on the edge of dying,” Danny Ramirez said.  

According to Ramirez’s family members and ICE spokesman Ross Feinstein, Anibal Ramirez was taken to  the Prince William-Manassas Regional jail before he was released to the feds.

Once ICE had Ramirez in custody, he was taken to the Farmville Detention Center for “removal proceedings,” the release stated.

Daniel Ramirez said that he never received a phone call from his nephew, and when he called the Prince William jail, he said they told him, “We can’t provide any information. He’s under ICE care.”

“Why did they refuse to let him make one simple phone call?” Daniel Ramirez said. “It’s a simple thing.”

Feinstein said that it’s standard procedure to offer detainees a phone call when they are first detained and again when they get to a detention center.

Feinstein said he didn’t know if Anibal Ramirez made a phone call from the local ICE office in Fairfax County, but he probably would have been offered the opportunity.

“It’s our standard practice that any detainee that comes into our office here in Fairfax, where we process people, would be able to make a three-minute phone call,” Feinstein said.

Feinstein confirmed that Anibal Ramirez was offered the chance to make a phone call in Farmville, but declined.

Further, Feinstein said that anyone  can track the location of  anybody in ICE custody by going to the “Online Detainee Locater System.” at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.  

“They can put their name in and find out exactly where they are,” Feinstein said.

According to Feinstein, Anibal Ramirez had previously been in ICE custody after he was arrested in January for public intoxication.

He was released under the Alternatives to Detentions program which is supervised release   that allows “low-level criminal and non-criminal aliens to remain in their community, contributing to their families and community organizations and, if necessary, wrapping-up their affairs in the U.S.”

When Anibal Ramirez was arrested again on Sept. 26 for public intoxication, he was turned over to ICE for breaking the conditions of his release, Feinstein said.

According to the ICE release,  staff at the Farmville jail found Anibal Ramirez unconscious Saturday. He was taken by ambulance to the Southside Community Hospital and later flown to Charlottesville where he was diagnosed with liver failure.

ICE notified the family and the El Salvadoran consulate of Ramirez’s medical condition, the release stated.

According to Ricardo Juarez of Mexican Without Borders, the family has asked the organization to help them get some answers.

“We cannot say today who had the responsibility. That’s what we are demanding, an investigation to clarify why this happened, how this happened and establish the responsibilities,” Juarez said. “Its a very short period of time from  when somebody was arrested and died. We hope that this was not a case of negligence, but we’re going to proceed with whatever rights the family has establish responsibility and help the family.”

 “We will try to provide legal assistance or any other kind of assistance to them,” Juarez said.

Senior reporter Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.