ICE Loses 8th Migrant to Death Since October

A 22-year-old woman from Guatemala was in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when she died in a Texas hospital over the weekend. She underwent gall bladder surgery a month ago ICE announced on Monday, March 9, 2020.

This woman is the eighth migrant to die while in the custody of ICE since October 2020, BuzzFeed News reported. The same number of migrants died while in ICE custody the entire 2019 year.

The 22-year-old woman, Maria Celeste Ochoa Yoc de Ramirez had been hospitalized in Fort Worth, Texas for complaints of abdominal pains since Feb. 28, 2020. Ramirez died the morning of Sunday, March 8. Her cause of death was reported as “autoimmune hepatitis, complicated by septic shock and acute live failure,” according to a news release from ICE.

In September, Ramirez was arrested by Border Patrol agents for illegally entering the United States. Ramirez was crossing the Mexican border near Hidalgo, Texas. After her arrest, Ramirez was transferred into ICE custody and detained her at the El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas, according to the press release.

Ramirez had family in the U.S., and she passed initial asylum screenings. This is the first step for immigrants to request humanitarian protection in the U.S. Traditionally, these factors have allowed migrants without criminal records to continue immigration proceedings outside of a detention center. However, Ramirez remained in custody for over six months. While she remained in ICE custody, removal proceedings had begun with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

Months after her initial asylum screening, Ramirez was transported to a hospital in Oklahoma on Feb. 7 where she underwent gall bladder surgery two days later. Ramirez was then transferred to an Oklahoma detention facility on Feb. 10. She returned to Texas on Feb. 13.

Before Ramirez began experiencing abdominal pain, she had been held at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. On Feb. 28, she was taken to Texas Health Downtown Fort Worth. There, she was hospitalized until she died.

According to the press release, ICE notified the Guatemalan consulate and Ramirez’s next of kin.

Seven other immigrants have died while in ICE custody since October. Some of them were also seeking asylum. A Cuban asylum seeker died of an apparent suicide in October, he wanted humanitarian protection as well.

In a statement on Monday, ICE wrote: “ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases.”

ICE oversees the main component of the largest immigration detention system in the world. The conditions of these facilities have undergone severe scrutiny by advocates for immigration and the Democrats. The agency has been accused of not having adequate medical standards and has called on officials to allow asylum-seekers who do not pose threats to public safety to fight their deportation outside the detention centers.

Repeatedly, ICE has maintained that the deaths that have occurred in their custody “are exceedingly rare and occur at a fraction” of the national average.

By Jeanette Vietti

Sources:

Fox: Guatemalan woman, 22, dies in ICE custody at Texas hospital, marking 8th migrant death since October
CBS: 22-year-old Guatemalan asylum-seeker dies in ICE custody; 8th death since October
Democracy Now!: Guatemalan Woman Dies in ICE Custody

Image Courtesy of Patrick Feller’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License