Concerns Over ICE Custody Deaths Spark Congressional Inquiry
Southern California lawmakers are demanding answers from U.S. Homeland Security officials following the deaths of two Orange County residents and nearly two dozen others while in federal immigration custody. The incident has raised concerns about the treatment of detained immigrants and the ability of immigration detention centers to provide adequate medical care.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Reps. Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Judy Chu (D-Pasadena) pointed to the deaths of 25 people so far this year while being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The number of in-custody deaths has reached an annual record since the agency began keeping track in 2018. Two Mexican immigrants, Ismael Ayala-Uribe and Gabriel Garcia-Aviles, who had long made their homes in Orange County, were among the deaths.
Systemic Patterns of Neglect and Delayed Treatment
Ayala-Uribe, 39, died on September 22, about a month after being apprehended while working at the Fountain Valley Auto Wash, where he had worked for 15 years. He had lived in Westminster since he was 4 years old and had previously been protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. However, his application for continued protection was not renewed in 2016. Ayala-Uribe’s relatives and members of Congress have alleged that he was denied proper medical care after being taken into ICE custody in August.
Internal emails obtained by The Times revealed that Adelanto detention staff members were aware of Ayala-Uribe’s medical crisis, but he was initially taken back to his dorm room, where he waited for another three days before being moved to Victor Valley Global Medical Center in Victorville. ICE officials acknowledged that Ayala-Uribe died at the Victorville hospital while waiting for surgery for an abscess on his buttock. The suspected cause of the sore was not disclosed.
Broader Concerns About Immigration Detention Centers
The deaths have focused attention on the treatment of detained immigrants as well as long-standing concerns about medical care inside Adelanto, one of the largest federal immigration detention centers in California. The situation raises broader concerns about whether immigration detention centers throughout the country are equipped to care for the deluge of people rounded up since President Trump prioritized mass deportations as part of his second-term agenda.
Lawmakers, including Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), J. Luis Correa (D-Santa Ana), John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), and Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), have stressed the need to treat immigrants with humanity. They emphasized that the deaths of Ayala-Uribe and Garcia-Aviles, who had lived in the U.S. for three decades, raise serious questions about ICE’s ability to comply with basic detention standards, medical care protocols, and notification requirements.
For more information, visit Here
Image Source: www.latimes.com
