Beyond the Border: 16 deaths in ICE custody, evidence of medical neglect and a kidnapping investigation into federal officials
Here's what happened this week in immigration news.
Written by Kate Morrissey, Edited by Lauren J. Mapp
Welcome to another edition of Beyond the Border, which summarizes immigration news from across the country in a weekly roundup. Did I miss something? Message me via kate@daylightsandiego.org or on Instagram.
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Detention conditions
A Mexican man held at a detention facility in Louisiana became the 16th known person to die in ICE custody this year, L.A. Taco reported. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry instructed consulate staff to increase their efforts to monitor facilities, including with daily visits.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that many of the deaths in ICE custody during the Trump administration were preventable after medical staff delayed or failed to provide critical care, according to doctors who reviewed detainees’ medical records.
The New Yorker took a deep dive into the Trump administration’s increased use of family detention centers and the medical neglect happening there.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari, a Democrat from Arizona, visited an ICE holding facility at Mesa Gateway Airport with two other members of Congress unannounced and posted about what she saw on Instagram. The Arizona Republic reported that when Ansari asked an official to have medical staff check on a detainee she encountered, the official told her, “They’ll come after you leave.”
The wife of a detainee told the Arizona Republic that a holding facility in central Phoenix reeked of feces and vomit.
Rep. Angie Craig is calling on ICE to release from custody a woman with a tennis ball-sized ovarian cyst that needs surgery, Minnesota Reformer reported. ICE detained the woman a week before her scheduled surgery to remove the cyst.
People held at the Everglades ICE facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” said guards beat and pepper sprayed them when they protested lack of phone access, Miami Herald reported. The article includes a photo of a visibly bruised detainee in a video call with his lawyer.
Deportations and their consequences
The New York Times reported that older siblings are having to raise younger ones after the Trump administration deported their parents.
A mother returned to the U.S. after a wrongful deportation to Mexico, but she and her daughter are still healing from the forced separation, Mother Jones reported.
Immigration officials detained a University of Washington graduate student and his son at the Seattle airport and quickly deported them over protests from the graduate students union, TV station King5 reported.
The Trump administration has deported at least 25 people protected under a settlement from the child separation case during the president’s first term, The Marshall Project reported.
Journalist Gillian Brockell reported on deportation flights to Myanmar and Uganda — the latter carrying people from third countries under an agreement the Trump administration made with the government there.
Immigration officials detained a woman who worked as an immigration court interpreter for Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu languages and is threatening to deport her, Texas Observer reported. The woman has protection from deportation to India but could be deported to another country.
Charges of assaults on federal officers
The Guardian reported that the FBI arrested a California man who was shot six times by ICE officers while in his car. The federal government is charging the man with assault.
A U.S. citizen arrested during an ICE raid on a Home Depot will not face jail time after reaching a plea agreement after he was accused of interfering with the operation, the Sacramento Bee reported.
The Los Angeles Times reported that a jury acquitted a Cal State University professor of charges of assaulting a federal officer during a protest against an ICE raid on a marijuana farm.
Other stories to watch
The federal government gave Reddit until Tuesday of this week to respond to a subpoena for personal data of a user who criticized ICE, The Intercept reported.
Sahan Journal reported that Ramsey County officials are investigating whether to charge federal immigration officials with kidnapping and false imprisonment for detaining a Hmong American man by dragging him out of his house in little clothing in January.
Despite a vote from Houston City Council to limit local police cooperation with ICE, the police chief told the department to continue following its policy of giving immigration officials 30 minutes to arrive after an arrest, the Houston Chronicle reported.
The New York Times found that the Trump administration is firing immigration judges who don’t deport as many people as it wants them to. That includes, the outlet reported, firing two judges who blocked the deportations of two students who support Palestinians’ rights.
A 19-year-old shot by a Border Patrol agent in 2022 is suing the agent, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The agent is also facing a criminal indictment.
PBS’ FRONTLINE and ProPublica released a video documenting the consequences of the Trump administration’s immigration raids.
On the KPBS podcast The Finest, dancer Ahmad Joudeh, who got his start in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, tells his story of using dance to resist and to find freedom.
In a commentary piece for Poynter, the Indianapolis Public Editor pointed out that local news outlets haven’t shared details about the lives of two Asian men who died in ICE custody in Indiana, pointing to a gap in coverage and underrepresentation.
Thanks for reading! Take care and stay well.
— Kate
