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PHOENIX — <\/span>A Haitian man confined at an Arizona immigration detention center for months died at a hospital Monday after a tooth infection was left untreated, the man\u2019s brother said Wednesday.<\/p>\n Emmanuel Damas, 56, told medical personnel at the Florence Correctional Center that he had a toothache in mid-February, but he was not sent to a dentist, said Damas\u2019 brother, Presly Nelson.<\/p>\n Nelson believes the staff at the facility did not take his brother\u2019s complaints seriously even though it was a treatable condition. Nelson said he would expect such a death in countries with less access to health care, but not the United States. <\/p>\n \u201cAs a country \u2014 I\u2019m an American now \u2014 I think we can do better than that,” Nelson said. <\/p>\n Damas is among at least nine people who have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody this year.<\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. ICE had said it hoped to issue a news release Wednesday.<\/p>\n Earlier Wednesday, ICE officials announced the death of Mexican national Alberto Gutierrez-Reyes, who had been in a California ICE detention center and died in the hospital Feb. 27 after reporting chest pain and shortness of breath.<\/p>\n Chandler City Council member Christine Ellis, a Haitian American who is a registered nurse, said she was contacted by Damas\u2019 family after his death.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a medical person, I am absolutely appalled that there were medical-licensed people that were working there and allowed those things to happen,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cIt does not make sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n A report from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office listed Damas’ cause of death as \u201cpending\u201d as of Wednesday.<\/p>\n Damas was taken into ICE custody in September and was soon transferred to the medium-security Florence Correctional Center, where he was held for several months, including after his asylum application was denied, Ellis said.<\/p>\n CoreCivic, a for-profit corrections company that runs the Florence facility, deferred comment to ICE. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press reporter Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n