S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman. On today's show , an investigation shows misdiagnosis and delays in care are leading to record deaths in Ice detention centers. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. Inside Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers. Medical misdiagnosis and delays are leading to deaths in Ice custody. At least 48 people have died in custody since Donald Trump returned to office last January. And that's according to a new investigation from the San Francisco Chronicle. I'm here with one of the reporters behind the story , Colin Chang. Welcome to Midday Edition.
S2: Thank you so much for having me.
S1: Glad to have you on. Um , you read your report. I want to get into that because It talks about last year's death toll in Ice custody , and that it was the highest since the agency was created. Walk me through those numbers if you can. Absolutely.
S2: Absolutely. I'm 33. People died in Ice custody last year , the highest since 2003 when Ice was created. And our investigation found that not only are people dying in higher numbers , but they're also dying at a higher rate per the number of people , on average detained per day. It's the highest death rate that we've seen since at least 2009 , except for 2020 , when the death rate was hired due to Covid. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. So let's unpack some of the factors that led to that , though. We don't have time to get in , get through all 48 cases.
S2: That was based on an analysis of 32 cases in which there were the most revelatory documents available. We sent those records to doctors with specialties related to the medical conditions that these detainees died from , and those doctors identified for us at least 17 people who died after failing to receive medical care or receiving delayed medical care that could have saved their life.
S1: And you found that the record deaths there , not just because more people have been arrested under the Trump administration.
S2: Um , people also failed to get 911 attention when they were receiving experiencing medical emergencies , um , or received misdiagnoses. So , for example , one man , 44 year old Ukrainian refugee , had a seizure that was caused by a massive stroke and detention , staff records show , thought that he was intoxicated and so sent him to the housing unit rather than call 911. During that time , over an hour and 13 minutes passed and he had six more seizures caused by that stroke before emergency medical transportation was finally called. And when he arrived at the hospital two hours after his stroke , he was critically ill and soon after had such severe brain damage that doctor said he was unreliable. And that's just one example of these trends that we think have contributed to the record high death rate.
S1: That is awful. But this is a trend that preceded the current administration , right ? Yeah.
S2: Two of the cases of people who died since President Trump took office actually involved medical care that preceded President Trump taking office. And one of them was a man named Sarah Dejean , who died of complications from Aids after he was not tested for HIV for several months while in Ice detention. Despite having symptoms that doctors said should have prompted testing like losing 20% of his body weight , having significant back pain and developing lymphoma. And that was things that happened prior to January 20th , 2025. So I think our investigation found that some of these problems are not new. They predate President Trump's inauguration. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. Another case that stood out is that of a man in the Adelanto detention center in California. Tell me about that. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Mr. Ismael Ayala Rubi , um , was a former doctor recipient who came to the US when he was five years old and after being arrested at the car wash where he worked , he quickly started having agonizing pain in his rear and he complained to medical staff about it , saying it was ten out of ten pain. But the records don't show that staff ever examined him physically. They sent him back to his cell with fiber supplements that are used to relieve digestive problems. And it wasn't until a few days later that he was finally taken to a hospital , where they diagnosed him with septic shock caused by an abscess that was growing in his rear , filling with bacteria and threatening to kill him , and he died. His heart stopped while waiting for treatment , and doctors who reviewed his case said that he could have been saved if he had been treated earlier for the abscess , he could have been given antibiotics. That is a very survivable condition that he should not have died from if he was given the appropriate medical care.
S1: You know , Ice did not respond to requests to comment for your story. In general , what message have they put out related to health care within their facilities.
S2: The agency has said previously , in press releases or when people have died , that it provides comprehensive medical and dental and mental health care. They've also said previously that they offer , quote , the best health care that many aliens have received in their entire lives and quote , and has generally defended what it provides in its detention facilities. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. I mean , you spoke with several immigration attorneys and medical doctors for this investigation.
S2: They should have received , where they did not get 911 call when they should have , when they received misdiagnoses. And the doctors drew a link between those things and people dying prematurely. Um , one of the doctors that we spoke to , emergency medicine physician in Atlanta , said that if you're not able to provide quality medical care or let people choose when they need to go to the emergency department , then I don't think you can claim to have appropriate medical care and detain people. The principle here being that the US government is constitutionally required to provide medical care for people that it holds in custody , whether that's in prisons or jails or in Ice detention facilities , regardless of their immigration status , regardless of what criminal convictions they may have. At the same time , it's important to remember that many people held in Ice detention do not have criminal convictions. In fact , a majority of people who died in the past since January 1st , 2025 had no violent criminal history. And immigration detention is not like prison or jail because it's not legally supposed to be a punishment. It's meant to be an administrative process to hold people while they're waiting for their hearings , or to make sure that potentially dangerous people don't pose a public safety risk.
S1: Just remind me.
S2: Some of them are Ice employees. Some of them are private operators because most Ice detention facilities are actually operated by private companies. The two largest of which are CoreCivic and Geo Group. Um , neither responded to a request for , uh , sorry. Um , that's that's not correct. One of them responded to a request for comment. Geo Group asking us to speak to Eisenstadt. Caustic said that they care nothing more matters to them than health and safety of people in their care. But most of these facilities are run by private detention operators , and most of the deaths occurred in privately run facilities. They have their own staff that provide health care. Um , and it makes it quite difficult to actually know who is providing the medical care , who are the doctors and nurses staffing the facilities where people are dying because a lot of that information is not publicly available. Right.
S1: Right. And if they're qualified , even , um. Wow.
S2: Um , it's complicated by the fact that while people are in Ice custody , um , family members are sometimes denied access to see them at hospitals. Um , that happened in the case of the Ukrainian man I mentioned who was having a who had a severe stroke and wasn't sent to an emergency room quickly. His girlfriend didn't find out that he was dead until , um , you know , she went to her attorneys office to pay the bill for his deportation defense and found out through her attorney that her boyfriend had died. Um , and , uh , other times , family members have said that when they've called the facility , they've gotten a send , you know , run around in circles or that they have been denied information about the condition of their loved ones , and so it can be quite difficult for family members to even know what's going on. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Detainees , families and advocates are seeking reforms through lawsuits and even legislation right now.
S2: One of the most prominent lawsuits in California was a November class action lawsuit filed by detainees at the largest detention center in California City over delayed medical treatment , and it resulted in a federal judge installing an independent medical expert who's supposed to conduct an investigation into whether or not the facility is meeting certain standards for medical care. And he's currently in the midst of doing that investigation at California City Detention Center for. Hmm.
S1: Well , now I was just going to. Well , go ahead , go ahead. I want to know.
S3: What how that ended up.
S2: Um , I was just going to say that , um , because two detention watchdog agencies have been gutted since President Trump took office. Um , those past , um , you know , historic forms of recourse for families whose loved ones aren't getting their medication or aren't getting medical care are gone now. And so we're seeing litigation emerge as the main strategy that families are using when their loved ones aren't getting medical care that they need.
S1: Well , with just a couple of minutes that we have left.
S2: And to use the words of one of the the daughter of one of the people who died. She said , what hurts the most is that they didn't help my dad. That's the feeling that a lot of people have had as a feeling that a lot of doctors who reviewed these cases have had , when they look at the care that detainees received before they died. Um , we're continuing to investigate this issue , trying to get access to more comprehensive medical records that will give even more insight into what might have been missed , as well as looking at who the health care operators are in some of these facilities. So stay tuned for that.
S1: I've been speaking with Colin Hsiung , reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle. We'll link to her reporting at KPBS. Thank you so much , Colin.
S2: Thank you for having me.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
