Volunteers and employees who worked at immigrant facilities run by CoreCivic could have witnessed abuse of migrants in ICE custody.

At least 24 migrants have died while in custody of ICE officials during the Trump administration, according to The Takeaway. Right now, more than 52,000 migrants are in ICE detention centers, many of which are run by CoreCivic, a private prison company.

Migrants and advocates report that detainees are being subjected to forced labor practices for insignificant compensation and under threat of severe punishment.

Death in ICE Custody

The Takeaway reports that Cuba-born Yulio Castro-Garrido, 33, died after just six weeks at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga. Yulio’s brother insists Yulio was healthy when he was initially taken into ICE custody.

Castro-Garrido had become a permanent U.S. resident under the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act back in 2015. Records from ICE indicate Castro-Garrido was arrested for “attempting to transport and move an undocumented alien” in the United States at the border with Mexico.

After serving a one-year prison sentence in Georgia, Castro-Garrido was moved to the Stewart Detention Center in late November 2017. Because of his alleged efforts to smuggle undocumented migrants, Castro-Garrido was going to have to go before a judge for an immigration hearing.

When Castro-Garrido was in the custody of ICE, CoreCivic ran the Stewart facility, and healthcare was provided by InGenesis Medical Staffing, STG International and Maxim Healthcare Services. The three healthcare contractors were overseen by ICE Health Service Corps.

Each migrant entering the facility undergoes an initial health screening. The intake processor on Nov. 24, 2017 noted that Castro-Garrido had “slightly elevated blood pressure,” but no other health problems were noted upon admission to the facility.

A few days later, another nurse conducted another exam and determined his blood pressure “met the American Heart Association criteria for stage two hypertension,” but did not start monitoring his blood pressure, nor did she refer him to a doctor.

He started to work in the detention center’s kitchen on Dec. 7, 2017, even though no records have been found to indicate he had been medically cleared to perform labor at Stewart. A month later, he went to the medical unit with a fever, rapid heart rate and elevated blood pressure. He provided some type of cold medication, Benadryl and acetaminophen, and continued working in the kitchen where he could have spread a contagious illness.

The next day, he was taken to a hospital by ambulance and diagnosed with pneumonia and influenza A. Because of his worsening condition, he was transferred to another hospital where his right lung collapsed and he experienced respiratory failure.

Less than a week later, on Jan. 17, 2018, Castro-Garrido was transferred to the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville. He died Jan. 30 after going into cardiac arrest and falling into a coma. The State of Florida Certificate of Death says he died of bronchopneumonia with pulmonary abscesses (infection-filled pockets in the lungs) and viral influenza.

An ICE Detainee Death Review, acquired by Project South and immigration attorneys through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, shows that ICE Health Service Corps protocol for detainees with hypertension were not followed in Castro-Garrido’s case.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.