A 44-year-old man has died shortly after being released from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, according to the family’s attorney.
It is the second reported death connected to the high desert ICE detention center in less than two weeks.
Federal immigration agents detained Irvin Cruz-Nape in October and he subsequently was taken to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where he was detained for four months. He complained of chest pains while in the facility, his family’s attorney Madaleine Behr said.
“Clearly something was happening when he was at the facility,” she said. The family hasn’t been able to ascertain what kind of medical treatment he received while detained.
Cruz-Nape was released on bond on Feb. 13 and died on March 4.
He called Ontario home for over 20 years, where his “devastated” family is left behind, Behr said.
Cruz-Nape has no pre-existing health conditions that the family was aware of.
Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Lauren Bis said in a statement that Cruz-Nape declined a sick call after requesting to be seen by medical staff while in detention.
“It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care,” Bis said.
Days before Cruz-Nape’s death, Alberto Gutierrez Reyes, a 48-year-old father and husband, died after being detained inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center for less than two months, according to authorities, days after he reported feeling sick.
For years, the Adelanto ICE Processing Center has faced scrutiny from politicians, watchdog groups, and advocacy organizations for inadequate medical care, detainee treatment, and substandard living conditions inside the for-profit immigration detention center.
Recently, an LA non-profit and four detainees filed a proposed class action lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. The lawsuit claims the government is denying people detained in Adelanto with “basic human needs” such as “food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and reasonable safety” and that this amounts to punishment and violates their constitutional right to due process of law.
Cruz-Nape’s family is awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine his cause of death.