Deaths in ICE custody raise serious questions, lawmakers say
Southern California lawmakers are demanding answers from U.S. Homeland Security officials after the deaths of two Orange County residents and nearly two dozen others while in federal immigration custody.
One Letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on FridayU.S. Reps. Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Judy Chu (D-Pasadena) noted that 25 people have died so far this year while being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The number of deaths in custody has reached an annual record since the agency began tracking it in 2018.
Two Mexican immigrants who had long lived in Orange County and were sent to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center north of Hesperia were among the dead.
“These are not just numbers on a website; they are real people with families, jobs, hopes and dreams, and each of them died in ICE custody,” the lawmakers wrote. “The following cases demonstrate systemic patterns of delayed treatment, neglect, and failure to appropriately notify families.”
Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, died on Sept. 22, about a month after he was caught working at the Fountain Valley Car Wash, where he had worked for 15 years. a GoFundMe post by his family.
He had lived in Westminster since he was 4 years old and was previously protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. The Times had previously reported that his application for continued protection was not renewed in 2016.
Ayala-Uribe’s relatives and members of Congress alleged that he was denied necessary medical care after he was taken into ICE custody in August. Detention staff at Adelanto were aware of his medical crisis, according to internal emails obtained by The Times. But Ayala-Uribe was initially taken back to his dorm room at Adelanto, where he waited another three days before being transferred to Victor Valley Global Medical Center in Victorville.
ICE officials acknowledged that Ayala-Uribe died at a Victorville hospital while awaiting surgery for an abscess on his hip. The suspected cause of the pain was not disclosed.
The cause of Ayala-Uribe’s death is under investigation. ICE has said before.
A second man, 56, who lived near Costa Mesa, died on October 23, about a week after he was taken into custody.
ICE said Garcia-Aviles was arrested on Oct. 14 in Santa Ana by the U.S. Border Patrol on an outstanding warrant and eventually transferred to the Adelanto center. ICE had previously said in a statement that he was at the Adelanto facility for only a few hours before being taken to a Victorville hospital for “suspected alcohol withdrawal symptoms.”
His condition deteriorated rapidly.
The deaths have put a spotlight on the treatment of detained immigrants and longstanding concerns about medical care at Adelanto, one of California’s largest federal immigrant detention centers. This raises broader concerns about whether immigrant detention centers across the country are equipped to handle the influx of people being rounded up after President Trump prioritized mass deportations as part of his second-term agenda.
“These deaths raise serious questions about ICE’s ability to comply with basic detention standards, medical care protocols, and reporting requirements and underscore a pattern of gross negligence that requires immediate accountability,” Min and Chu wrote in a letter to Noem and Todd M. Lyons, ICE’s acting director.
The letter was signed by 43 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).
An ICE representative did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday.
Lawmakers emphasized that immigrants should be treated humanely.
Deputies said Garcia-Aviles had lived in the United States for three decades. His family did not become aware of his serious health condition until he was “on his deathbed”. Family members went to the hospital found him “unconscious, intubated, and… [with] dried blood on his forehead” as well as “a cut on his tongue… broken teeth and bruises on his body.”
“We didn’t have a chance to talk to him anymore and [the family] “He was never called to inform us why he was transferred to the hospital.” her daughter wrote on the GoFundMe pageSeeking help to cover funeral expenses. “His absence left a hole in our hearts.”
