DALLAS–An Armenian man held in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) died Tuesday morning at the Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. An autopsy is scheduled to determine his cause of death.
Gourgen Mirimanian, 54, entered ICE custody at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas on Feb. 6.
On April 10, staff at the detention center found Mirimanian unresponsive on his bunk. The medical staff performed CPR and contacted emergency medical services. Mirimanian was transported to the hospital where medical staff declared him deceased at 9:12 a.m.
Mirimanian first entered the United States on April 28, 1994, in Los Angeles on a temporary visitor’s visa. On July 30, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York convicted Mirimanian of racketeering conspiracy, an aggravated felony; he was sentenced to 60 months’ incarceration.
On Dec. 12, 2017, ICE deportation officers encountered Mirimanian at a Bureau of Prisons facility in Fort Worth, and lodged an immigration detainer on him. On Feb. 6, the Bureau of Prisons released Mirimanian to ICE custody pursuant to the immigration detainer.
Based on his aggravated felony conviction, on March 6, an immigration judge ordered Mirimanian removed to Armenia. Both ICE and Mirimanian waived appeal of the judge’s decision.
Consistent with the agency’s protocols, the appropriate state health and local law enforcement agencies have been notified about the death, as have the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility. Additionally, ICE is coordinating Mirimanian’s death notification to the Armenian Embassy, as well as to his next of kin. Mirimanian is the fourth detainee to pass away in ICE custody in fiscal year 2018, which began Oct. 1, 2017.
