Nov. 23 (UPI) — Southern California lawmakers are demanding answers from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about 25 detainees who died in the custody of immigration and Customs Enforcement this year, two of whom were from Orange County.
Policy makers have cited unfit medical care and system failures at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County for a lack of quality care for detainees.
They have questioned whether the facility is capable of processing a surge in immigrants tied to President Donald Trump‘s push to deport undocumented immigrants.
Rep. Dave Min, D-Irvine and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, wrote a letter to Noem asking the secretary for an explanation of the deaths of more than two dozen people while in ICE custody. The number of in-custody deaths has set an annual record, a number officials began tracking in 2018.
“These are not just numbers on a website, but real people – with families, jobs and hopes and dreams – each of whom died in ICE custody,” the lawmakers wrote to Noem.
“The following cases illustrate systemic patterns of delayed treatment, neglect and failure to properly notify families,” the letter continued.
Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, died Sept. 22 after being apprehended at the Fountain Valley Auto Wash where he worked, his family, which established a GoFundMe account, said.
His relatives and federal lawmakers have alleged that Ayala-Uribe was denied proper medical care. Ayala-Uribe lived in Westminster from the age of four, and had been protected from deportation by the Deferred Arrivals and Childhood Arrivals program. His application for continued protection was not renewed in 2016.
Documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times showed that ICE Adelanto officials were aware of his medical condition and later acknowledged his death in the facility.
Gabriel Garcia-Aviles, 56, who lived near Costa Mesa, died Oct. 23, a week after being detained by ICE, which said he was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol for an outstanding warrant, and was subsequently sent to the Adelanto center.
ICE officials said he was only in detention for a few hours before being taken to Victorville hospital for “suspected alcohol withdrawal symptoms” where his condition worsened rapidly and later died.
The deaths have raised questions about the treatment of detainees at Adelanto, among the largest federal immigration detention centers in California.
“These deaths raise serious questions about ICE’s ability to comply with basic detention standards, medical care protocols, and notification requirements, and underscores a pattern of gross negligence that demands immediate accountability,” Min and Chu wrote in their letter to Noem and Todd Lyons, acting, ICE director.
The letter was signed by 43 other lawmakers, including four from California in addition to Min and Chu.