A Cuban dad did time for a marijuana bust 40 years ago. He died in ICE custody last week

MIAMI — Isidro Pérez spent his life by the sea: first, during his childhood in Cuba, and at the end, on a house-boat off the coast of Key Largo with his dogs.

He arrived in the U.S. in 1966 at the age of 16 and worked as a mechanic and fisherman. In the early 1980s, he was convicted of marijuana possession, but his family said he turned his life around. His daughter and six stepchildren offered to buy him an apartment in his later years, but he declined.

“He was like a bird that didn’t want to be caged up,” his stepdaughter, Alba Patricia Gomez, told reporters.

On June 5, five immigration officers arrested Pérez, 75, at a community center. A photo taken by a family friend of the moment shows Pérez with a long, white beard. His hands are behind his back. Officers took him to Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami.

Three weeks later, on Thursday, Isidro Perez died in U.S. Immigration and Customs custody. A government statement shows he had been in the hospital the day before for a heart condition.

“I don’t understand what’s really going on, we’re all human,” Gomez said. “Why are they picking up 75-year-old people?”

Pérez is the fifth person to die in ICE custody in Florida this year, according to government records. Half of all deaths since January in the agency’s custody nationwide have been in Florida. His official cause of death is still under investigation.

“People die in ICE custody, people die in county jails, people die in state prisons,” Tom Homan, the U.S. border czar, said when asked about Perez’s death on Monday, noting that he was unaware of the case. “The question should be, how many lives does ICE save? Because when they go into detention, we find many with diseases and stuff that we deal with right away to prevent that.”

Pérez’s death comes only days after Johnny Noviello, a 49-year-old Canadian man, was found unresponsive at the federal detention center in downtown Miami. He died on June 23.

Medical examiners ruled two other deaths in January and February to be from natural causes, but a Miami Herald investigation found evidence of substandard or delayed medical care. Reporters requested autopsies and medical reports for the three recent deaths but have yet to receive them.

“ICE remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments,” the press release on Perez’s death said. “At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergent care.”

The government statement notes that Perez had two convictions in the 1980s for substance possession: on Feb. 10, 1981, and Jan. 25, 1984. The Herald contacted the National Archives and local courts and could only locate the records for one.

In 1981, Pérez and another man were stopped on a boat and charged with “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute,” and “possession with intent to distribute” about 1,500 lbs of marijuana, records show.

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison with two years probation, and was granted extra time in order to support his family before turning himself in, documents show. He started his sentence on Jan. 25, 1984, more than 40 years ago.

Gomez, 51, said that Pérez studied to become a mechanic during his time in prison. He fixed up both cars and boats, and would undercharge his clients so they could afford his services. After he got out of prison, he began to rescue cats and dogs.

“We’re all humans you know, we make mistakes, but we remake ourselves,” she said. “And that’s exactly what he did.”

Maria Alaniz, 82, met Pérez when she arrived in the U.S. from Nicaragua in 1979, and they started dating shortly after. She described him as an “excellent person” with whom she shared a “beautiful friendship.” When they separated after seven years together, he continued to help raise her six children, teaching them to swim and fish.

He had a weak heart, multiple heart attacks, a shoulder fracture, injuries after a car hit him and could barely walk in his last months, she said. She brought him meals daily and took him to medical appointments. Alaniz recalled getting a call from him when he was at Krome, where he described sleeping on the floor in a severely overcrowded facility that didn’t have enough beds.

“I am no one to judge, but it really hurts me, what is happening,” Alaniz said.

The ICE press release states that Pérez was detained “during a law enforcement action in Key Largo” and deemed ineligible to stay in the United States. Criminal convictions can make immigrants inadmissible to remain in the country.

His family members said he was arrested while sitting at the Murray Nelson Government Center, a community center in Key Largo. A family friend who was present sent relatives a photo of his arrest.

Pérez had three chihuahuas, two of them in Alaniz’s care. But Chulo – whose previous owner Alaniz said had also been detained by ICE – was taken by officers to a humane society. They left him tied outside, but he escaped and was hit by a car, Pérez’s family said. A woman saved the dog, and continues to take care of him. Chulo “suffered a lot with the arrest,” said Alaniz.

The day after his arrest, during a standard medical intake, Pérez was diagnosed with several health issues, ICE said. On June 17, he was admitted to Larkin Community Hospital with “unstable angina” – reduced blood flow to the heart that causes chest pain and can lead to a heart attack.

On June 25, he was discharged from the hospital. The next evening, he reported chest pains at Krome’s medical unit. He died around 9 p.m. at Florida Kendall Hospital.

Pérez and Alaniz spoke one last time the morning before he died, and he said he would call the next day.

She dreamed of him: He was lying on a stretcher, calling for “rescue, rescue, rescue.”