EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Researchers say the rapid expansion of immigration detention in the U.S. is partly to blame for an increase in the deaths of people in federal custody.
Since January, 15 people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, including a migrant who was killed on Wednesday outside a detention facility in Dallas, and a Mexican man who fell ill at a California facility and died at the hospital this week.
In this episode of Border Report Live, correspondent Sandra Sanchez speaks with Austin Kocher, a professor at Syracuse University who is part of independent projects that collect immigration data from ICE. In the past, he has published countless reports on immigration-related topics like capacity at detention facilities and the outcomes of immigration hearings in the courts.
In tracking deaths, he noted that some of the data can be incomplete or misleading. If a migrant died shortly after being released, for example, that death might not be included in ICE’s figures even though the individual might have become sick inside the facility.
He said Friday that the rapid expansion of immigration detention also leads to inadequate care and/or oversight to ensure that those services are provided and provided in a timely fashion.
-
Border Report Live: Deaths of migrants in ICE custody on the rise, data shows
-
Sheinbaum in Juarez on Friday to talk about first year in office
-
‘Doggy doors’ at base of border wall help small wild animals crawl through
-
-
Watch: Texas troopers find migrants in hidden compartment of box truck
-
Report: Migrants needed to fill millions of green jobs worldwide by 2040
Join the award-winning Border Report team at borderreport.com for a daily, in-depth discussion about people living, working and migrating along the U.S.-Mexico border.
You can also watch past episodes of the Border Report Live, highlighting not only immigration and border security, but cartel violence in Mexico, border trade, politics and the U.S. and Mexico’s ongoing water dispute on the border.
Follow Border Report on Facebook and X. You can also sign up for our free daily newsletter and desktop alerts, here.
Read: Read More