ADELANTO, Calif. (AP) — Officials are investigating the death this week of a 39-year-old Mexican man who was in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Southern California.
Ismael Ayala-Uribe was transferred Sunday from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center to a regional hospital for surgery on an abscess on his buttock, according to an ICE statement.
Hospital staff found him unresponsive and “initiated lifesaving measures” but he was declared dead around 2:30 a.m. Monday, the statement said. The cause of death is under investigation.
In addition to the abscess, Ayala-Uribe suffered from hypertension and tachycardia, an abnormally fast heart rate, according to ICE.
Federal records show that more than a dozen people have died in immigration detention since January, when immigration officials began to implement President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
His family said Ayala-Uribe had high blood pressure but was otherwise healthy. His brother told the Los Angeles Times that Ayala-Uribe got sick with a cough and a fever shortly after he arrived at the Adelanto facility north of Los Angeles on Aug. 22.
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department offered its condolences to the man’s family and said the Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino would follow up with authorities at the immigration detention center to ensure a thorough investigation to “fully clarify” the cause of the death. Mexican officials are in contact with the family to offer legal assistance and other help.
Mexico also reiterated its commitment to protect and defend the human rights of Mexicans abroad.
“Yesterday we had a Mexican citizen die in a hospital in the United States after being detained (by ICE). We sent a diplomatic note yesterday asking that investigations be completed and, if there was wrongdoing on any violation, that it be sanctioned,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said.
According to ICE, Ayala-Uribe entered the United States at an unknown date and location. He applied for, and received, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protection in 2012. In 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied his application to renew his DACA status. He had been convicted of two DUIs.
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