'Rivas Velásquez fainted and was taken to the hospital out of precaution': Trump Administration denied that a Venezuelan illegal immigrant died at Alligator Alcatraz

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied Thursday the death of illegal immigrant and Venezuelan influencer Luis Manuel Rivas Velásquez, also known as Luis Frío, detained at the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center in Florida. According to NBC Miami, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that "Rivas Velásquez fainted and was taken to the hospital out of precaution. ICE takes its commitment to protecting those in its custody very seriously. We ensure illegal aliens have access to adequate medical care."

McLaughlin issued the statements in response to claims by Rivas' family members that he died after being sick and not receiving care from authorities inside the facility. According to NBC Miami, lawyers for Rivas' sister, Ada Velásquez, confirmed that the Venezuelan immigrant had been treated at a hospital and had already been returned to the detention center.

After learning the information, Velásquez and Rivas' girlfriend, Rosana Navaz, demanded in a publication on Instagram a proof of life: "If this information they gave us this morning is false and he is well and alive I apologize to everyone and to the U.S. government, we just want proof of life, and that they stop playing and do not speculate things that are not! We want good news please.

On Wednesday, Navaz said on her social media that Rivas had supposedly passed away and even blamed the President's administration Donald Trump for his death, explaining that although Rivas had signed all the corresponding documents to be deported to Venezuela, the authorities kept him detained in the center. "He died due to U.S. negligence, he asked for medical attention because he was very sick, he had fever, sores and chest pain, and they didn't give it to him. They let him die there. He would call me and tell me he hadn't eaten," Navaz commented in a video.

Likewise, Navaz commented that his partner suffered different types of mistreatment by the authorities at Alligator Alcatraz, assuring further that "they didn't take him out, they didn't send him, nothing. They left him there like a dog. Likewise, she detailed in her video that it was not fair "that he died that way," adding that different types of measures have to be taken as soon as possible toprevent more immigrants detained at the center from going through situations similar to those of Rivas. Finally, Navaz asked for help to be able to send her partner's body back to Venezuela.

Several of the detainees would have COVID-19.

In addition to Navaz, Rivas' sister, Ada Velasquez, also posted a video on Wednesday in which she claimed that her brother had supposedly died and asked for help so that his body can be repatriated so that his family can say goodbye to him. Likewise, Velasquez commented that the situation in the detention center would be delicate, since the conditions there would not only be harsh, but allegedly "all" the detainees would be infected with COVID-19.

"I ask for help to get my brother's body moved to the country and ask for justice. All the people there are in a precarious situation, they don't feed them, when they do it is only once a day and it is frozen sandwich.They are sick, my brother got sick, they all have COVID-19. My brother asked for medical assistance and they denied it," he denounced in his video.

So far, authorities have not commented on the alleged cases of COVID-19 inside the facility.

Editor's note: This article has been edited, both in content and headline, to add the clarification from federal authorities regarding the allegations made by the Navaz family. As initially stated, the allegations made by the Navaz family had not been corroborated by official reports.