Almost all deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody were preventable, according to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union and Physicians for Human Rights released on Tuesday.
The report, based on a review by a team of medical experts of 14,500 documents from 52 deaths from 2017 to 2021, including two in Houston-area detention centers, determined that 95 percent of deaths could have been prevented with proper medical care. ICE medical staff also made incomplete or incorrect diagnoses in 88 percent of cases, and did not provide timely and appropriate medical care in 79 percent of cases, according to the report’s analysis.
The report comes as immigrant detention is increasing. President Joe Biden promised to reduce immigrant detention, but instead the number of people detained under his administration has increased to more than 38,500 in June . This is more than double the 15,000 population at the end of the Trump administration , but still less than the peak of 55,000 in August 2019.
Researchers say the report highlights the dangers of detaining immigrants long-term and the flaws in ICE’s oversight mechanisms.
“Each of these deaths represents a preventable tragedy, and underscores the systematic danger posed by placing people in immigration detention,” Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project and report co-author, said in a statement.
“ICE has failed to provide adequate — even basic — medical and mental health care and ensure that people in detention are treated with dignity,” she added.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
Houston-area deaths
Two of the 52 cases studied in the report occurred in Houston-area detention centers. The analysis is based on ICE’s review of the deaths, which included medical and immigration documents, interviews with staff and witnesses, autopsies, and a review by an outside consulting agency.
Yimi Balderramos-Torres, a 30-year-old from Honduras, was detained at Houston Contract Detention Facility, which is run by private prison company CoreCivic, when he died of “sudden cardiac death” on June 30, 2019.
During his medical intake screening on June 6, Balderramos-Torres reported a rash, which can be an indicator of heart disease . This information was not included in his medical transfer summary when he was sent to Houston Contract Detention Facility on June 18, according to ICE’s internal review of the death.
Around 4:40 a.m. on June 30, 2019, Balderramos-Torres partially fell off his bunk bed and hit his head on the floor, the agency’s documents state. Detention center officials did not notice despite security checks roughly every half hour.
Detention center officials called for medical help at 5:38 a.m. when another detainee reported that Balderramos-Torres did not wake up for breakfast. Medical staff then performed CPR until first responders arrived and transported Balderramos-Torres to the hospital. He was pronounced dead at 6:45. An autopsy determined his death was natural from sudden cardiac arrest.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment, but ICE documents state that “medical and security personnel responded in under two minutes and took necessary and appropriate action.” However, the agency’s External Reviews and Analysis Unit also notes that Balderramos-Torres was not processed for intake within 12 hours as required by ICE policy.
CoreCivic referred specific inquiries about medical care to ICE because ICE contracts medical providers at Houston Contract Detention Facility. CoreCivic’s staff are “trained to refer all detainee health or medical concerns, whether routine or acute, to facility medical staff for evaluation, triage and treatment.”
On July 7, 2020, Fernando Sabonger-Garcia, a 50-year-old Honduran man, was sent to Joe Corley Processing Center north of Houston in Conroe, Texas, which is run by private prison company GEO Group. During his medical intake exam, a health professional noted his elevated blood pressure and scheduled three checks a week.
Around 8:30 a.m. on July 26, Sabonger-Garcia complained of dizziness and feeling he would pass out, according to ICE’s records. He had a temperature of 100.7 degrees, elevated blood pressure and low oxygen levels. Sabonger-Garcia had a slightly elevated temperature in previous days, but it did not reach 100 degrees.
That month, people in Texas detention centers were 15 times more likely to have COVID-19 than the general population.
More than an hour after Sabonger-Garcia sought medical care, an ambulance was called. He was hospitalized for more than a month until his death on Aug. 28, 2020. A medical examiner determined that he died of complications from COVID-19, although an autopsy was not conducted.
The ICE External Reviews and Analysis Unit did not document any errors with care, but noted that the facility failed to search Sabonger-Garcia upon arrival in accordance with its policies.
“The deficiency is noted for informational purposes only and should not be construed as contributory to Sabonger’s death,” the report states. A GEO Group spokesperson said that it provides “high-quality services,” including “around-the-clock access to medical care” and follows ICE guidelines for health care.
The ACLU said it could not confirm if the Houston area deaths were determined to be preventable or received inadequate care for legal reasons.
ICE responsibility
Setareh Ghandehari, advocacy director of Detention Watch Network, called the situation in detention centers “alarming,” especially considering that Biden promised to end private detention and make the immigration system more humane.
Yet the conditions in detention are anything but humane, Ghandehari said. People in detention often suffer physical and verbal abuse. Medical neglect is rampant. Food is moldy and water unfit for drinking. Basic necessities such as toilet paper are in short supply.
“What we’ve gotten instead is worsening conditions, and people still suffering inside detention,” Ghandehari said. “Instead of reducing our use of immigration detention and winding it down, the exact opposite is happening.”
Cho of the ACLU stressed the need for accountability for ICE, an agency with oversight mechanisms that have failed to improve detention center conditions.
“Abuses in ICE detention should no longer go ignored,” said Cho. “It’s time to hold ICE accountable and end this failed, dangerous mass detention machine once and for all.”
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