By: Sienna Escobar
Close to 40 people gathered at a prayer vigil to honor the life of Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, a
Cleveland, Tennessee resident, who passed away in ICE custody five months ago.
Friends and acquaintances of Clemente, local church members and organizers
from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) met 6 p.m., Sept. 3, at
the First United Methodist Church in Cleveland. The group, which included community members
of all ages, prayed together, shared stories, lit candles and held a moment of silence. Most of
the service was translated in English and Spanish.
Alejandra Guajardo, a Cleveland resident and TIRRC board member, expressed the purpose of
the prayer vigil.
“We’re here to stand in unity for the dignity of humanity, specifically when it comes to the
treatment of immigrants in our community,” Guajardo said. “We have seen family separation
happening and, most recently, the death of a community member.”
Viri Marín, an East Tennessee organizer for TIRRC, said the meeting was an important way for
community members to honor Clemente and grieve together.
During the meeting, Clemente’s sister, who gave only her first name, joined via video call
and tearfully addressed the gathering in Spanish.
“I am also very sorry,” she said. “I know that the people who are there (in
Cleveland) are experiencing the situation that I am living, and the only thing we ask for is justice
for our loved ones.”
ICE Custody
According to an ICE detainee death report, Clemente was apprehended on Jan. 8 in the
Bradley County Jail in Cleveland, Tennessee by ICE agents from Enforcement and Removal
Operations (ERO) New Orleans. Once in ICE custody, Clemente was transferred to the Winn
Correctional Center (WCC) in Winnfield, Louisiana.
The death report stated that Clemente had previously been arrested for “disorderly conduct,
possession of drug paraphernalia, domestic assault, failure to appear and probation violation.”
The death report did not state how long Clemente had been in the Bradley County jail.
According to Marín, he had been arrested by Cleveland police for a traffic offense. Local law
enforcement coordinated with ICE due to the 287(g) agreement between the sheriff
and the police departments and federal ICE agents. A previous Accent article explained that
the 287(g) program “takes its name from a section added to the Immigration and Nationality Act
in 1996, authorizing ‘ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to
perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency’s direction and supervision.’”
According to the Bradley County Sherriff’s Office, the only documentation their agency
had regarding Clemente was a 2024 incident report for an arrest for disorderly conduct. A jail
docket published by the Cleveland Daily Banner every 3-4 days documented 3 times Clemente
had been arrested in 2024. The most recent arrest information was published on December
18, 2025, and stated that Clemente had been arrested by the Cleveland Police Department for
violation of probation for driving on a suspended license. None of these incidents
were explicitly cited by the death report or any press releases as the reason Clemente was in
the Bradley County Jail when apprehended by ICE on Jan. 8.
According to Marín, Clemente was able to contact his family during the months he spent at
the WCC. The death report stated that Clemente received medical treatment while he was
detained for health issues including hypertension, elevated blood pressure and flu-like
symptoms.
According to the report, Clemente was found unresponsive in his cell on April
11 and declared deceased not long after.
On April 13, the ICE website published a news release announcing Cabrera’s death under
the headline “ICE criminal illegal alien detainee passes away in Louisiana.” The press
release stated that Cabrera had been in the U.S. for 25 years after entering illegally.
Community Impact
According to Marín, Clemente’s local community was shaken by the news of his death.
“When I arrived, there was a lot of pain and sadness, like they couldn’t believe it,” Marín said.
“When you go and talk to his community, he was known as someone who helped in his church,
who was loved in his community.”
Part of the difficulty, Marín said, was the way Clemente’s case was documented.
“One thing that devastated his church community was seeing how, at the end, (ICE) had taken
his story and just changed it into any old offenses and not giving him the dignity of the
community member that he really was,” Marín said.
During the prayer vigil, Marín said that more than four months later, Clemente’s family still had
not received his ashes.
Sara Cook, a member of the First United Methodist Church, said she did not know Clemente
but expressed concern over what she had learned from the meeting, especially about the
way his ashes had been handled.
“There’s been no dignity given to the family; there’s been no closure given to the family,” Cook
said. “There’s still a lot of unanswered questions, I’m sure.”
International Implications
According to an article by ABC News, Clement was the 47th person to pass away in ICE
custody under the current U.S. administration and the 15th Mexican national to pass away since
2025.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry published a press release on April
13 regarding Clemente’s passing.
“The Ministry reiterates its deep concern and its demand for immediate action,” the press
release stated. “The repeated occurrence of deaths in custody is unacceptable and reveals
serious deficiencies in ICE detention centers, which are incompatible with human rights
standards and the protection of human life. All Mexican consulates have been instructed to
intensify their efforts, including daily visits to ICE detention facilities.”
In Clemete’s death report, ICE detailed various times that Clemente was evaluated
and received treatment for health conditions.
“ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure
and humane environments,” the ICE press release stated. “Comprehensive medical care is
provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay. All people
in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health intake screenings 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 alien denied emergency care.”
Community Response
Gerald Jones, pastor of the First United Methodist Church, said he did not know
Clemente personally, but his church had worked closely with TIRRC before to host events such
as the prayer vigil.
While the demographic of his congregation is not predominantly Hispanic, Jones said getting
involved was a way for his church members to live out the principle of loving their neighbors.
“When I let the leadership know that we were going to be hosting this event, there was zero
pushback,” Jones said. “In fact, there was 100 percent agreement that this is what we’re
supposed to do as the church and the community.”
Afton Nordean, the administrative assistant at the church, has worked closely with TIRRC and
other local outreach groups. Despite her involvement, Nordean said she had not heard about
Clemente’s case until TIRRC reached out to them.
“It’s really heartbreaking that our community has been affected in this way, and we don’t even
know it,” Nordean said. “I think it’s tricky, right? Because when we’re silent about it, it’s like
it didn’t happen. But it is scary to speak out about it, especially knowing that there has been
retribution for that in the past.”
For her, Nordean said that the issues with speaking out made it even more important for
community members to get involved.
“Coming from a place of privilege,” Nordean said, “(maybe a) friend is afraid that children are
going to be taken away from her. Well, I don’t have that fear as a white woman, right? And I feel
like it’s not her job to advocate for herself. It’s my job to advocate for her, because I’m in a
privileged position to do that, and I don’t carry that fear with me.”
At the close of the prayer vigil, Marín invited the audience to work towards a community that is
safe for everybody.
“I invite you to share Alejandro’s story, to share what happened and what you saw today,” Marín
said, “because we also believe that every person should be free to be treated with dignity by
those who claim to be civil servants, protecting and serving our communities. No matter what
you look like, where you were born, how much money you make or how you practice your faith,
we all deserve the freedom and dignity to live (our) lives.”
