Dorchester resident Emmanuel Damas died while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on March 2. His family alleges that an untreated toothache spiraled into a series of more serious conditions. More than 100 people joined Damas’s family at City Hall Plaza on Wednesday to mourn and demand justice for the medical neglect that ended his life.

“Shame on a system that kills someone and ignores for weeks their complaints about a toothache. Shame on this system that we have right now,” said Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune.

The councilor said that Boston will not stand for ICE disappearing the residents, neighbors, and family members who call this beloved city home. “We are a city that says that we do not cooperate with ICE. We need to make sure that none of our systems are helping them do their job.” Louijenune said. “No one in this country should be the subject of medical neglect due to racism and xenophobia.” 

Immigrant Family Services Institute CEO Geralde Gabeau said that the job of community leaders has become more challenging every day because the law no longer seems to be on their side. “When we look at what’s going on in our communities, when we look at the fear, the anxiety, the oppression that we are facing day in and day out, we have nothing else to say than enough is enough,” she said.

The LUCE Immigrant Justice Network called for state and federal elected officials to pursue an independent criminal investigation into the events that led to Damas’s death and to shut down The Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), whose data sharing between local and federal law enforcement is alleged to have alerted ICE to Damas’s presence.

“We will continue to show up in the streets, in the courts, in our community, not only until ICE is out of Boston and Massachusetts, but until ICE has been abolished,” said LUCE volunteer and Dorchester resident, Yessenia Prodero.

Prodero additionally called for a divestment and boycott of Citizens Bank, which finances CoreCivic and The GEO Group, two of the largest private operators of immigrant detention centers.

Damas’ brother,​​ Presner Nelson, thanked the crowd for grieving alongside his family in Boston’s frigid March weather. 

“One thing that I want to make very clear, this is 2026. We are not in 1800 or 1700 anymore, where a toothache can kill someone,” he said. “America can do better than that. America should do better than that.”

Nelson said it was a dream come true for Damas to join his family in the United States. Damas came to Dorchester from Haiti in 2024 under the Biden Humanitarian Parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. The Trump administration terminated the program via executive order and began issuing notices of termination last summer.  

Damas was arrested in September and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, according to court records. His family said the charge was due to a slap on the back of Damas’s son’s head following a misunderstanding. The family posted Damas’s bail, and he was quickly released only to be apprehended by ICE shortly thereafter.

Though ICE has denied neglecting his medical needs, Damas is the ninth person to die in their custody this year alone. His circumstances are also far from unusual, with the same type of neglect being reported in ICE facilities around the country. 

A GoFundMe is being organized by the Damas family to have his body returned to Haiti for burial.