New documents presented by Buzzfeed News have shed light on the deaths of over 40 immigrants who died while in ICE custody in the past four years due to neglect.
In one instance, a detainee from Jamaica was locked in solitary confinement for over a week without receiving medical care for an aggressive but treatable form of cancer. He died a month later. Three detainees with mental health issues committed suicide, even though they were supposed to be closely monitored. Another detainee died in custody after medical staff at multiple ICE detention facilities failed to use an interpreter when presented with health forms, despite his limited English. A trans-woman from Honduras died from AIDS complications after being denied access to antiretroviral medication. She was severely dehydrated and showed signs of starvation, according to the local medical examiner. These are just a few instances that highlight a disturbing pattern within ICE detention centers.
At the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona and Adelanto Detention Facility in California, at least two deaths resulted from detainees not being appropriately monitored. At least one guard even falsified records to hide evidence of their lack of surveillance.
“During the 51-minute period, the officer documented three welfare checks, none of which were supported by video surveillance,” one internal death review said. The guard in question resigned just two days later.
Immigrant activists have continuously called out ICE for the poor medical care of its detainees. With the current pandemic, activists have grown increasingly concerned with detainee health care in the cramped facilities. While ICE has responded by decreasing the overall facility population, 21 immigrants have still died in custody within the most recent fiscal year, which ended September 30th. Several of those inmates had coronavirus.
ICE has repeatedly insisted that its facilities provide adequate medical care to all detainees. They claim that while deaths are “unfortunate and always a cause for concern,” they are “exceedingly rare.”
