Onoval Perez Montufar

Onoval Perez Montufar, courtesy of Mayra Ramirez, by way of her GoFundMe page.

“They’re just keeping us here indefinitely, risking our health. … Our families are outside and worry about our health.”

These heart-wrenching words are from a person detained by ICE in Florida. He and others in detention centers across the state—not to mention the country—speak to the lack of social distancing measures, of protective equipment (“They won’t give us face masks. They won’t give us gloves, anything.”), and of basic human dignity, and they reveal the hollow commitment of ICE “to the health and welfare of all those in its custody.”

Onoval Perez Montufar was a fatality of ICE’s empty promise. On July 1, having been in ICE’s custody for sixteen days, Onoval began experiencing shortness of breath. He was transported to a hospital in Florida, where he received inpatient treatment after testing positive for COVID-19. We lost Onoval on July 11, the first reported person detained by ICE in Florida and the third reported in the country to succumb to the virus. He was only 51 years old. 

Though born in Mexico, Onoval built a home and family for himself in Houston, Texas. In a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses, his niece, Mayra Ramirez, described her uncle “Oni” as an “amazing person that would make anyone in the room laugh with his crazy sense of humor.” Others detained with him described him to the Miami Herald as a “nice man,” “generous, kind, and funny,”—one who always offered to share his meals. These people, however, also claimed that Onoval had weak lungs and difficulty breathing at night; though complaints were made and concerns brought up regarding Onoval’s health and susceptibility to the virus, ICE did not respond adequately. As one friend said: “He was scared of dying. And look, his fear came true.” His voice shaky, he added: “Any of us can be next.” Onoval’s death could and should have been prevented. The death of the other detained people who spoke about Onoval—as well as every single other one—must be. 

Immigration advocates during a July 18 vigil for Onoval Perez-Montufar, who died in ICE custody on July 11, courtesy of Friends of Miami-Dade Detainees, by way of The Miami Herald.

On July 18, about a dozen members of the Friends of Miami-Dade Detainees, a South Florida immigration visitation organization, held a vigil for Onoval in Glades County. The vigil contained a small candle-lighting ceremony, a few speeches from immigration activists, a moment of silence, and a march in which organizers delivered a letter to Sheriff David Hardin, calling on him to sever Glades County’s contract with ICE to detain immigrants at the Glades County Jail before more people become sick or die. According to advocates, however, officials “refused to accept the letter or even allow it to be placed in their suggestion box.”

In their press release, ICE evaded responsibility, claiming that they continue to provide “necessary medical care services as required… and based on the medical needs of the detainee.” For months, groups have been sounding the alarm about deteriorating conditions inside immigrant detention centers. In fact, the center in which Onoval was detained before his transfer to the hospital is now among the top nine facilities in the country with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. In Florida, advocacy groups and immigration attorneys filed a class-action lawsuit in April to seek their release. By the time this lawsuit goes to trial, however, it will be too late—for Onoval, for Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia, for Santiago Baten-Oxlaj, and for too many others. 

We join Mayra Ramirez, as well as Onoval’s wife, sons, friends, and family, in mourning the passing of a wonderful soul.

This memorial was written by MOL team member Frances Keohane with information from reporting by Monique O. Madan of The Miami Herald and Emma Winger of Immigration Impact, from Mayra Ramirez’s fundraiser for Onoval’s funeral, and from a press release by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Please consider supporting the efforts of Onoval’s family to obtain an independent autopsy and to bring him to his final resting place, by donating to this fundraiser.