CBC News Posted: Jan 29, 2014 1:17 PM PT Last Updated: Jan 29, 2014 8:22 PM PT

The B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed that 42-year-old Lucia Vega Jimenez was found hanging from a shower stall in the immigration holding centre at the Vancouver airport, on Dec. 20, 2013. She died one week later in a Vancouver hospital without regaining consciousness and was removed from life-support with her family present, says the coroners service in a written release. News of Vega Jimenez’s death coming to light more than a month after it happened has angered many in international and local communities.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association says it wonders what took so long and whether there have been other in-custody deaths with the Canada Border Services Agency that have not been reported. Vancouver-based advocacy group No One Is Illegal has launched a petition calling for a full independent civilian inquiry into Vega Jimenez’s death.

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News1130 Staff January 29, 2014 3:43 pm

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The BC Coroners Service is confirming that a woman who died last month after being held at YVR, had been found hanging in a shower stall at the airport’s Immigration Holding Centre. Lucia Vega Jimenez was taken to Mount St. Joseph Hospital where she died eight days later.

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MIGRANT DIGNITY, NOT MIGRANT DEATHS!

(en español abajo)

Yesterday we confirmed the news of Lucia Vega Jimenez’s death while under Canadian Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) custody. Migrant communities and activists are still reeling from the news of this tragic and shameful death and we send our prayers, rage and condolences to her family members and loved ones.

WHAT CAN I DO?

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/1415165535395741/

1) If you have one minute, please sign and share this petition:
https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/steven-blaney-order-a-full-transparent-and-independent-civilian-inquiry-and-investigation-into-lucia-s-death#

and this image on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=500023813448000

2) If you have five more minutes, please call these numbers directly to pressure for an independent investigation and an end to cruel and punitive conditions of migrant detention.

Lisa Lapointe, Chief Coroner: 604 660-7745
Barb McLintock, BC Coroners Service: 250-356-9253
Steven Blaney, Public Safety Minister: 613-944-4875 or 613-992-7434
Roslyn MacVicar, Pacific Regional Director CBSA: 604-666-0760
John Dyck, Metro Vancouver District Director CBSA: 604-775-6790

3) If you have a few hours to come honour the life of Lucia Vega Jimenez and to demand justice, come out on Friday January 31, 2014 at 5:30 pm in front of CBSA offices at 300 West Georgia for a vigil and community gathering by community members, No One Is Illegal, and Latin American Committee for Refugees and Migrant Justice.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1415165535395741/

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CBC News Posted: Jan 28, 2014 6:08 AM PT Last Updated: Jan 29, 2014 6:43 PM PT

The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating the death of a 42-year-old woman from Mexico who went into medical distress while being detained by Canadian border officials at Vancouver International Airport last month. Lucia Vega Jimenez died in hospital eight days after emergency crews were called to the airport to attend to her. Coroner Barb McLintock said the woman had been in the custody of the Canada Border Services Agency for a few days and was transferred to the cells at the B.C. Immigration Holding Centre on Dec.19. Things went wrong early the next morning, and an ambulance was called to the airport. McLintock says the woman was taken to several hospitals, before ending up at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver, where she died, several days later, on Dec. 28.

‘Why has it taken a month for any of this news to come out?’- Josh Paterson, B.C. Civil Liberties Association

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News 1130 January 28, 2014 9:25 pm

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The details still aren’t clear about why a woman died after being held in custody by Canada Border Services agents at the Vancouver International Airport. The woman was held for several days and then taken to hospital with a medical emergency where she later died. Security expert Josh Labove with SFU says being in CBSA custody is a grey area, or as he puts it, a political no-man’s-land.

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