Russian asylum seeker dies after suicide attempt. He was to be expelled this month

A 40-year-old Russian asylum seeker died after a suicide attempt at the detention center in Tacoma, according to federal officials.

A statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued Monday said Amar Mergensana was found in his cell November 15. ICE's statement referred to him as Mergensana Amar, but immigration activists called him Amar Mergensana.

A fellow detainee alerted immigration advocates that Mergansana was carried from his cell that day.

According to federal court documents, Mergensana applied for asylum at the San Ysidro port of entry on December 2, 2017. He was transferred to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on December 19, 2017, and remained there since.

In late August, nine months after his transfer to the NWDC, Mergensana began a hunger strike in order to be released. In September, after missing 45 meals and refusing to drink, medical staff at the detention center said he was in imminent danger of kidney failure if he wasn't force-fed.

A judge signed an order allowing detention staff to administer fluids intravenously and use soft restraints if Mergensana refused treatment.

Maru Mora Villalpando, an organizer with Northwest Detention Center Resistance, told KUOW that the group had met with Mergensana during his hunger strike.

"He seemed very resilient," she said. "Regardless of being so skinny and weak, you could see in his eyes that he was ready to fight, that he was really determined."

Villalpando also said that Mergensana was learning Spanish to talk with other detainees.

"Every time he was being taken to shower or the yard, which was not often, he would say 'hi' to them and try to engage in conversation in Spanish," Villalpando said.

ICE said that Mergensana ended his protest just last month.

Mergensana's date of death was November 18, according to ICE, but he remained on life support at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Tacoma until November 24.

ICE said that on November 5, he received an order of removal from the U.S. He was set to be expelled this month.

Grace Meng with Human Rights Watch interviewed Mergensana in September. Earlier this month, she said he was "in a great deal of despair. He said, ‘I don’t understand the asylum system at all.’”

A statement Sunday from the advocacy group NWDC Resistance called for an investigation and closure of the detention center. The group has also planned a vigil on Monday night.

ICE said an investigation would be conducted.

Casey Martin contributed to this report.