The family of a Mexican national and former DACA recipient expressed sadness and outrage after he died in federal immigration custody.

Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, was pronounced dead Sunday at Victor Valley Global Medical Center, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Ayala-Uribe had received protection from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2012, but his application for renewal was denied four years later.

He is the 14th person to die in immigration detention since January, when federal immigration officials began to carry out President Trump's mass deportation agenda.

“I'm angry, sad,” said Ayala-Uribe's younger brother, Jose. “My parents are pretty much broken.”

Jose, 31, said that officers from the Huntington Beach Police Department knocked on the door of his family’s home in Westminster Monday morning and informed them that his brother had died.

“They had him at the coroner's already,” Jose said.

Ayala-Uribe was arrested by Border Patrol agents on Aug. 17 during a raid at the Fountain Valley Auto Wash, where he had worked for about 15 years.

“One day they just decided to show up and take whoever was there," Jose said. "I don't feel it's right.”

On Aug. 22, Ayala-Uribe was transferred to the Adelanto detention center in San Bernardino County.

According to ICE, federal officials declined to renew Ayala-Uribe's DACA protection, which is granted to some immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, after he was convicted the year before of driving while under the influence.

Jose said that Ismael came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was about 4 years old, grew up in Orange County and went to Westminster High School.

Ismael had been pretty healthy, Jose said, with blood pressure on the high side but, as far as he knew, no other medical problems.

But not long after Ismael arrived at Adelanto, Jose said, he got sick.

“It started small with the cough, and then he started getting fevers,” Jose said. “They only were giving him, like, Tylenol and really, nothing else.”

As Ismael’s health declined, the family kept checking on his status. ICE, he said, did not keep them informed.

“They wouldn't tell us anything,” Jose said. “Eventually, we just got the word that he was in their infirmary, and that's all they would tell us. ICE wouldn't give us any other information.”

On Saturday, Ismael's parents visited him at Adelanto.

“He was telling them that he was sick, he wasn't feeling well,” Jose said. “He's tried asking for help, but they wouldn't really do anything.”

When Ismael was taken to an infirmary, he said, ICE did not inform the family. A fellow detainee called them at midnight.

“He called my mom and dad," Jose said, "saying that he started shaking really bad, and he was finally sent into the infirmary because they called the guards.”

On Sunday, they heard nothing. And on Monday came the knock on their door from local police.

Federal officials could not immediately be reached to respond to the family's allegations.

News of Ayala-Uribe's death comes amid intense scrutiny of immigration facilities as the Trump administration ramps up deportations.

On Tuesday, two Democratic senators from Georgia sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raising concerns about the rise in deaths in ICE custody, in particular two that occurred at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. NPR was the first to report on the letter.

In July, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) released the findings of a probe into allegations of human rights violations at immigration detention centers, including dozens of reports of physical and sexual abuse, as well as mistreatment of pregnant women and children. The Department of Homeland Security rejected the senator's allegations in a statement.

In California, the Adelanto detention center, one of the largest in the state, has long been the focus of complaints from detainees, attorneys and state and federal inspectors about inadequate medical care, overly restrictive segregation and lax mental health services.

In June, critics — including some staffers who work inside — told The Times that conditions were unsafe and unsanitary. The facility, they said, was unprepared to handle the large waves of detainees pouring into the center.

That month, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), toured the detention center with four other Democratic members of Congress from California amid concern over the increasing number of detainees and deteriorating conditions inside.

The facility’s manager “has to clearly improve its treatment of these detainees,” Chu said at a news conference after inspecting the facility.

Some of the detainees told lawmakers that they were held inside Adelanto for 10 days without a change of clothes, underwear or towels, Chu said. Others said they had been denied access to a telephone to speak to loved ones and lawyers, even after repeatedly filling out forms.

A spokesperson for Homeland Security could not immediately be reached for comment on Ayala-Uribe's death. But the agency said in a statement that federal immigration agencies are committed to ensuring the safety of people who are in their custody.

"Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay," the agency's statement read. "All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility, access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergent care."

ICE said in a news release that on Sept. 18, Ayala-Uribe was seen by an on-call medical provider, who prescribed medication for him.

According to internal emails written by a GEO intake lieutenant and obtained by The Times, an officer at Adelanto initiated a code blue medical emergency alert Thursday at 2:06 p.m. due to Ismael "shaking and complaining of pain in his rear."

"Responding officers and medical arrived carefully escorting detainee from the 2nd level floor down to a wheel chair and be escorted to medical where he will be medical assessed with a further evaluation," the email said.

About one hour and 29 minutes later, at 3:45 p.m., GEO medical staff cleared Ayala-Uribe to return to his unit.

"If it was due to an abcess," an Adelanto staffer not authorized to speak to the media told The Times, "it is not normal he was not sent out to the hospital for that."

Three days later, Ayala-Uribe was sent to the Victor Valley Global Medical Center to further evaluate an "abscess on his buttock" and was scheduled to undergo surgery for it, the statement said.

"Ayala was also hypertensive and displayed abnormal tachycardia," immigration officials wrote in the statement. "At 1:48 a.m. the [medical center] declared Ayala unresponsive and initiated lifesaving measures. He was declared deceased at 2:32 a.m. by medical staff."

The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, a collective of more than 35 organizations serving the immigrant community across the Inland Empire, called for a full and independent report into Ayala-Uribe's death.

"The public and their family deserve the truth," the group said in a statement.

"This for-profit detention center has a long record of abuse, neglect, and inadequate medical care leading to preventable suffering and deaths," the coalition added. "No one should profit from immigrant incarceration, and no family should endure loss due to neglect."

According to ICE, after Ayala-Uribe's DACA renewal was denied, he was convicted of his second DUI in June 2019 and sentenced to 120 days in jail, plus five years probation.

The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice condemned ICE for publicizing Ayala-Uribe's DUI convictions.

"We reject ICE’s continued attempts to dehumanize immigrants by portraying them as disposable, pointing to past DUI convictions as if they negate a person’s right to live," the coalition said.

Immigration officials said Ayala-Uribe's cause of death is still under investigation. ICE is required to make public reports regarding in-custody deaths within 90 days.

ICE officials said they make official notifications to Congress, stakeholders and the media about a detainee's death and post a news release with relevant details on its website within two business days.

Ayala-Uribe's family has organized a Saturday fundraiser, selling tamales, carnitas and pozole to raise money for his funeral.