Another inmate from Michigan’s female prison died on Thursday, the Michigan Department of Corrections reported, becoming the fourth female inmate to die at the facility plagued by complaints of poor conditions since May.

Dalephenia Jones, 62, of the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility died at Trinity Health Hospital about two weeks after correctional officers found that she needed medical assistance in her cell, the department said.

“As this was an unexpected death, the department will be investigating the events preceding Ms. Jones being sent to the hospital and will provide information on the result of those investigations when they are complete,” Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jenni Riehle said in a statement.

More: Family of woman who died at Michigan women’s prison calls for reform

Three prior deaths at the women’s facility led 30 state lawmakers on May 19 to urge the resignation of Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington, citing a history of problems at the state prisons under her leadership.

The prison has recently been under fire over its conditions. A state House oversight committee heard testimony in February from prisoners, advocates and former staff who testified about the conditions, including mold and a lack of medical care, similar to complaints that have risen since the two women’s deaths.

The prison’s warden, Jeremy Howard, was put “temporarily on personal leave,” the department said earlier this month.

Washington and other health care leadership have been onsite regularly at Women’s Huron Valley since the other deaths occurred in May, Riehle said.

On June 19, Huron Valley corrections officers took Jones to the facility’s health care area after finding her conscious but in need of medical assistance, the department said. The health care staff requested outside emergency medical services, the department said.

Emergency technicians determined that “Jones was having a cardiac event and she was taken into surgery after arrival at the hospital,” Riehle said.

No other specifics were given about Jones’ condition during the 14 days following surgery or the cause of the cardiac event. But Riehl said Jones “had multiple documented chronic medical conditions for which she was being offered medical treatment as part of a chronic care plan,” some of which potentially increased the risk for cardiac events.

Jones was sentenced in Wayne County to life in prison in 1994 at the Huron Valley facility.

“The department continues to take meaningful actions at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional, and other facilities, to improve the health and safety of incarcerated individuals,” Riehle said.

Riehle maintained that the department has sent “experienced clinical leadership from across the state” to the facility and that it is “hiring additional full-time medical staff, developing a new healthcare staffing plan with enhanced nursing management, improving communication, among other action items that provide additional supports.”

The concerns about the facility began after Khaira Howard, 28, died May 14 in a medical observation cell at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. Howard’s parents are calling for reform at the Ypsilanti facility and for answers about their daughter’s death.

Rebecca Fackler, 57, another prisoner, died May 17. Both Fackler and Howard reportedly died after they were denied medical care, said two attorneys handling civil cases for loved ones of the two women.

In early June, Ashley Hoath, 36, died at Trinity Health Hospital several hours after being transferred out of the prison’s medical unit, Riehle said.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a potential presidential or U.S. Senate candidate in 2028 and a popular, recognized leader in progressive politics nationwide, has endorsed former Wayne County and Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary for the nomination to Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat this year.

Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, announced the endorsement in an interview with the New York Times. On July 2, El-Sayed’s campaign put out a statement from her, saying, “After watching this campaign unfold for well over a year, it has become clear that Abdul El-Sayed is the strongest candidate to keep this seat in November.”

“He is building a winning coalition by putting forward an agenda that speaks directly to working people,” she said. “He is not afraid to take on the greed making life unaffordable across Michigan because he’s never taken a dime in corporate donations. When he gets to Washington, he will work to get big money out of politics and to guarantee healthcare as a human right to all Americans. I am proud to endorse Abdul El-Sayed to be Michigan’s next senator.”

It adds to an already impressive list of endorsements that includes the UAW and Detroit’s Black Slate.

El-Sayed, who was born in Michigan, trained as a medical doctor and worked in public health, is a strong supporter of government-provided healthcare, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and an arms embargo on Israel; polling averages show him narrowly leading the Aug. 4 primary over U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak and the frontrunner to face Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake for the seat in the fall.

More: Freep’s pick for Michigan Dems in U.S. Senate primary | Endorsement

Stevens, who is seen as a more moderate, mainstream Democrat, has also racked up endorsements, such as those from former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm; McMorrow, making her first run for federal office, has positioned herself as a more progressive Democrat who is less tied to the party’s establishment than Stevens but more politically experienced than El-Sayed, and has gotten endorsements from U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and others.

The Free Press typically doesn’t cover individual political endorsements unless they are newsworthy. And in this case, Ocasio-Cortez’ endorsement doesn’t come as a surprise: Like El-Sayed, she is an unapologetic advocate for progressivism in the Democratic Party and she also endorsed him in 2018 as she was running for Congress for the first time and he had mounted an ultimately unsuccessful effort to win the party’s nomination for governor, losing to Gretchen Whitmer, who became governor.

More: El-Sayed claim to have already erased $700M in medical debt untrue

Other progressive stalwarts, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, have also already endorsed El-Sayed.

Immigration has been a defining force in creating the nation’s identity over the last two and a half centuries and continues to shape the country and Michigan as the United States looks beyond its 250th birthday on Saturday.

That was on display in Southwest Detroit during a recent weekend event, as hundreds gathered for the unveiling of a state historical marker honoring a Latina activist.

“Michigan is defined by the efforts and cultures from the waves of immigrants who began to arrive when we were still a territory,” said Laurie Kay Sommers, a folklorist and historic preservationist based in Okemos, who has been writing about Michigan history and culture since the 1970s.

More: Census report: Immigration driving growth across Michigan; Metro Detroit rebounded in 2024

While the state was once shaped by waves of German, Irish, Dutch and Polish immigrants who arrived in the 19th century seeking job opportunities, especially as the auto industry exploded, immigration continues to play a key role in the state’s population.

Immigration is the sole reason the state’s population is growing, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures, adding 55,000 residents in the 21st century. Population counts are a key factor in determining how much federal aid flows to states, counties and communities through hundreds of federal programs, according to the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit government watchdog based in Washington, D.C.

“All the growth in Michigan between 2020 and 2025 is attributable to immigration,” demographer Kurt Metzger said. “In other words, we’ve gotten more people from other parts of the country than the rest of the country got from us.”

According to the American Immigration Council, about 7% of Michigan’s population was born in another country, while another 7% are native-born U.S. citizens but have at least one immigrant parent. Metro Detroit’s immigrant population is even higher at 10.7%.

The Trump administration has sought to rein in immigration, specifically those who’ve entered the country illegally. Heightened immigration and customs enforcement since the start of Trump’s second term, as well as executive orders, have led to court cases and clashes with activists across the country.

Trump touched on the dangers of illegal immigration during his June 24 remarks at the opening ceremony of the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., marking the start of celebrations for the nation’s 250th anniversary.

“We inherited the worst, most dangerous, most wide open and insecure border in history, and we have quickly turned into the strongest, most secure border in the history of our country,” said Trump, according to video of his remarks posted online by Fox News.

“We are removing murderers, gang members, drug dealers and dangerous criminals by the thousands. They came in through a ridiculous open border.”

How immigration has evolved in Michigan

Still, how Michigan immigrants are reshaping Michigan continues to evolve.

In Detroit, a city once made up of a wide range of immigrants, the southwest side is one of the city’s last ethnic enclaves. Home to thousands of Latinos, it reflects how the contributions of immigrants and their descendants have shaped Michigan even before it became a state in 1837.

The Smithsonian was one of the sponsors of an event Saturday that recognized part of southwest Detroit’s commercial corridor, full of Latino businesses, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In a separate event, about 100 people attended the Sunday unveiling of a State of Michigan historical marker in honor of Dr. Lucile “Luci” Cruz Arellano Gajec, a community organizer, author and historian, who died in 2008.

“It’s well-deserved and long overdue,” said Tobi Voigt, director of museums for the State of Michigan Historical Center, at the unveiling of the historical marker at 4000 W. Vernor.

Latino businesses in southwest Detroit are just one example of the way “Main Street” businesses in Metro Detroit rely on immigrants to own and operate restaurants, hardware stores, dry cleaners and pharmacies, to name a few professions, according to a recent study by nonprofit Global Detroit that explored the immigrant impact on the economy. Global Detroit said it advocates for “equitable local, regional and statewide economic growth through immigrant inclusion.”

The April report, called “Job Creators: How Immigrant and Diverse Entrepreneurs Drive Metro Detroit’s Prosperity,” found that while immigrants comprise 10.7% of Metro Detroit’s population, they make up 12.5% of the workforce, 18.4% of area business owners and 23.8% of “Main Street” business owners.

Like many immigrant business owners, Gias Uddin Talukder, a Bangladeshi immigrant, saw a niche that he could fill to help others in his community. In 2013, Talukder started Bengal Auto Sales, a used-car dealership in Hamtramck, to serve other Bangladeshi immigrants who have formed a community on the border of Hamtramck and Detroit.

“I want to be known as more than just a businessman; I want to be involved in lots of activities,” Talukder said in an interview with the nonprofit New Economy Initiative.

He has given cars away to those in need and has raised thousands of dollars for various charities.

The largest number of immigrant business owners in Metro Detroit were born in Iraq, according to the Global Detroit report. Organizations such as the Chaldean Chamber of Commerce and the Chaldean Free Loan Fund have invested millions of dollars to support start-up businesses within the Chaldean community, as well as services for immigrants and refugees.