ICE says 42-year-old immigrant who died in Nassau jail had 'liver failure' that may have led to death, but family disputes claim

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday that Santos Banegas Reyes, the 42-year-old immigrant father of two who died in a Nassau County jail cell last week, may have died of liver failure, an assertion the family disputes. 

ICE wrote in a news release on Tuesday that Banegas Reyes' "cause of death is still under investigation. However, the preliminary cause appears to be liver failure complicated by alcoholism." The federal agency said the Honduran national, whom the agency referred to as Santos Reyes-Banegas, had illegally entered the country "at least four times."

But his sister called ICE's explanation "absurd," saying he had no major health problems that the family was aware of, and demanded a full accounting of his death. 

"How could he die so quickly? That is absurd," his sister, who did not want her name used for fear of repercussions, told Newsday on Tuesday in Spanish.

ICE’s explanation "is strange," she said, adding that liver failure "takes a long time to develop." 

"The ICE statement does not explain why Mr. Banegas Reyes succumbed to liver failure during the time he was in ICE custody," Oscar Michelen, an attorney speaking on behalf of the Long Island Hispanic Bar Association, a nonprofit advocacy group  wrote in a statement to Newsday.

He told Newsday the family is requesting an independent autopsy.

Dr. Elliot Grodstein, a liver transplant surgeon at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, said it would be highly unusual for someone who dies of liver failure to not show obvious symptoms 18 hours before death. They typically would have yellow skin and eyes that appear yellow, and they sometimes become “very somnolent or comatose,” he said.

“Typically before patients would die of end-stage liver disease, they’d be very sick in an ICU,” he said.

But, Grodstein said, in some cases liver disease may cause a fatal medical emergency that may not be detected 18 hours earlier. For example, liver disease makes someone more susceptible to a rupture of veins in the esophagus that causes the person to vomit blood, he said. Yet even in that case, the person may take hours to die and would be showing obvious signs of a severe medical problem before death, he said.

“He would be very ill,” Grodstein said. “You can’t miss that. You’re jarringly sick.”

Details surrounding Banegas Reyes' cause of death remain unclear as local and federal officials say their investigations are ongoing. His sister said he was off to his construction job the day ICE arrested him and he appeared normal. Videos showing his arrest also seem to show him appearing normal and healthy, she said.

Nassau’s medical examiner has not responded to several requests for the agency's determination of his cause of death. New York Attorney General Letitia James and the state Commission of Correction are reviewing his death, as mandated by law. Nassau’s sheriff, who oversees the jail, has said a local investigation is underway.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told Newsday on Monday that Banegas Reyes had a "serious, latent medical condition."

"Basically, it was an unfortunate circumstance, and our heart goes out to his family members, but [the correction officers] acted appropriately. But again, we have to wait for the results of those investigations before we can say definitively," he said.

Federal agents arrested Banegas Reyes last Wednesday, reinstating a deportation order and detaining him in the Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow, the agency said.

At around 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, police arrived at the East Meadow jail to find Banegas Reyes "unresponsive" in his cell and "not breathing," the Nassau police department said in a news release last week. A police medic pronounced him dead at the scene.

ICE said Banegas Reyes "went through medical intake, where he was cleared for detention." He was jailed in a Nassau cell for 18 hours before a police medic pronounced him dead, according to Blakeman and ICE. 

Osman Canales, an immigrant rights activist, said Banegas Reyes' family learned of his death through a Newsday story, then went to a hospital and the morgue, where they identified his body on Saturday.

No officials from ICE, Nassau County, the hospital or the jail have contacted the family to explain what happened or offer condolences, Banegas Reyes' sister said.

"They didn’t tell us absolutely anything," she said.

Banegas Reyes was held as part of Nassau’s partnership with ICE. In February, Blakeman set aside 50 jails cells for immigration detention. About 1,400 people have been held in Nassau through that program as of June, and the federal government is reimbursing the county at a nightly rate of $195 per ICE detainee.

Banegas Reyes first entered the country "on an unknown date and at an unknown place," according to ICE. In August 2004, agents "encountered" him and began the deportation process. An immigration judge granted him voluntary departure in September, and in October, Reyes left from Kennedy Airport to Honduras, ICE said.

In August 2005, U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested him for illegal reentry in Casa Grande, Arizona, ICE said. The federal agency sent him to Honduras 10 days later.

Banegas Reyes reentered "at an unknown place" illegally, ICE said. In September 2019, Kentucky State Police arrested him and jail officials turned him over to ICE. The federal agency deported him to Honduras in October 2019.

Banegas Reyes illegally entered once more "on an unknown date and time," and federal agents in Nassau arrested him last week.

Banegas Reyes did not have a criminal history, according to his family. Newsday was unable to corroborate that claim.

The agency wrote in its statement on Tuesday: "ICE remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments. ... All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health screening and 24-hour emergency care at each detention facility. At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergent care."

Newsday's Belisa Morillo contributed to this story.