Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday that the Mexican state and former DACA recipient died in custody after being transferred to a local hospital in Victorville.
Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, was pronounced dead at the Victor Valley Global Medical Center, according to an ICE statement.
Ayala-Uribe is now the 14th time since January when detainees died in immigration detention, when federal immigration officials began to implement President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
His death comes from letters from two Democratic senators in Georgia to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. immigration and customs enforcement, has attracted attention from the increase in ice holders, especially among two people in the ice detention center. NPR was the first to report this letter.
In July, Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) released the results of investigations into so-called human rights violations that occurred in immigration detention centers, including dozens of reports of physical and sexual abuse, as well as abuse of pregnant women and children. The Department of Homeland Security rejected the senator’s allegations in a statement.
In California, the state’s largest Adelanto Detention Center has long been the focus of complaints from detainees, attorneys, and state and federal inspectors, namely inadequate medical services, excessively restrictive segregation and loose mental health services.
In June, critics (including some internal staff) told the Times that the conditions inside the detention center were unsafe and unhygienic. They said the facility was not ready to handle the large number of detainees who were influx into the center.
That month, U.S. representative D-Monterey Park visited the detention center with four other Democratic lawmakers in California, due to concerns about the growing number of detainees and the deterioration of internal conditions.
The manager of the facility “must clearly improve the treatment of these detainees,” said in a press conference after inspecting the facility.
Chu said some detainees told lawmakers that they were locked up in Adelanto for 10 days without changing clothes, underwear or towels. Others said they were denied to use the phone to talk to loved ones and attorneys even after repeated filling in the form.
A DHS spokesman was unable to comment immediately on Sunday’s death. But the agency said in its statement on Ayala-uribe that immigration agencies such as ice, customs and border protection are committed to ensuring the safety of detained persons.
“Full medical care is provided from the moment an individual arrives through the entire stay,” the agency’s statement reads. “All persons under ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention center, a comprehensive health assessment within 14 days of entering ice custody or arriving at the facility, access to medical appointments and 24 hours of emergency care. Illegal aliens in detention centers that have not been detained at any time during detention have refused emerging care.”
Mexican national Ayala-uribe was held at a processing center in Adelanto, where he was seen by a standby medical provider who prescribed medicine for him despite immigration officials not explaining the reason, according to an agency statement.
Three days later, Ayala-uribe was sent to Victor Valley Global Medical Center to further evaluate “abscess on the hip” and plans to undergo surgery, the statement said.
“Ayala is also hypertensive and exhibits abnormal tachycardia,” immigration officials wrote in a statement. “1:48 a.m. [medical center] Ayala declared unresponsive and initiated life-saving measures. Medical staff announced his death at 2:32 a.m. ”
According to ICE, Ayala-Uribe entered the United States on an unknown date and location. The agency said he applied for and received a child arrival protection action in 2012. The agency was sentenced to three years of probation after being sentenced to driving in 2015 for driving.
In 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied his application to renew his DACA status. According to the ICE, he was convicted of a second DUI charge in June 2019 and sentenced to 120 days in prison and five years of probation.
Ayala-Uribe was arrested by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on August 17 and transferred to Adelanto on August 22.
Immigration officials say the cause of death is still under investigation. The Department of Homeland Security’s 2018 Appropriations Act requires ICE to conduct public reports of deaths during surveillance within 90 days.
ICE officials said they announced official notifications to Congress, NGO stakeholders and media about the deaths of detainees, and published a press release on their website and provided relevant details on their website within two working days of the agency.
Ayala-uribe’s family organized a fundraiser Saturday to sell Tamarus, Carnitas and Pozole on Saturday to raise funds for his funeral.
Times worker Nathan Solis contributed to the report.
