At least 6 immigrants died after 'inadequate' care in US custody since 2017: Report

At least half a dozen immigrants have died since 2017 after receiving substandard medical care in U.S. detention facilities, according to a new report from the House Oversight Committee.

House investigators, led by Democratic committee chairs, documented delays in medical treatment and emergency response, staffing shortages, lapses in mental health care and erroneous or falsified records.

"This broken system needs fundamental reforms, including enhancing internal and external oversight, ending the use of private prison contractors, and significantly decreasing the number of immigrants detained in the first place," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the Democratic chairwoman of the committee.

Part of the review looked at an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement report on one detainee named Huy Chi Tran, who was 47 when he died of cardiac arrest in June 2018. Tran was placed in solitary confinement at the Eloy Detention Center in Tucson, Arizona, after delays with his prescription and without a full medical assessment or standard checks from staff, according to the report.

After he was found unconscious in his holding cell, officials transferred Tran to a nearby hospital where he died a week later.

"[ICE] is fully committed to the health and safety of those in our care and will review the committee's report," ICE public affairs director Stacey Daniels said in a statement Thursday. "However, it is clear this one-sided review of our facilities was done to tarnish our agency's reputation, as opposed to actually reviewing the care detainees receive while in our custody."

As examples of its commitment to oversight, Daniels pointed to a toll-free hotline that allows detainees to report malpractice to ICE or their attorneys and noted that the agency typically makes improvements based on recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General.

Committee staff visited 22 private and government facilities and reviewed thousands of documents for their analysis of records on six detainees who died in custody over the past three years. The report's authors said their findings show "a disturbing pattern of immigrants receiving inadequate and delayed medical care."

In one such case described in the report, a detainee was disciplined with isolated confinement after he attempted suicide and it was determined he was a risk to himself or others. Jean Carlos Jimenez-Joseph was 27 years old when he later died by suicide using a bed sheet at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.

The officer who found Jimenez-Joseph also left the holding cell to find a tool to cut him down instead of calling for support, according to the report.

While examples cited in the report date back to well before the coronavirus health crisis, it notes that some lapses in medical care "could aggravate the spread." Seven people have died after contracting the novel coronavirus in ICE custody, according to the latest data from the agency.