Medical care at immigration detention centers came under fire this week after federal authorities released reports on 18 deaths.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released records last month on four deaths at the Eloy Detention Center and 14 deaths at detention centers in other states, all of which took place between 2012 and mid-2015.
Human Rights Watch said in a news release Thursday that “substandard medical care” at ICE detention centers contributed to seven of the deaths.
For its part, ICE said in a prepared statement that the agency “remains committed to providing a safe and humane environment” for detainees and that deaths at detention centers result in an “immediate internal inquiry into the circumstances.”
The reports on the deaths were conducted by ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight, created in 2009 as part of comprehensive detention reforms, the agency said.
Two medical experts, at the request of Human Rights Watch, reviewed the cases and found “potentially dangerous care” in 16 of the cases.
The experts cited failures to follow up on symptoms, medical personnel practicing beyond their licenses and expertise, misuse of solitary confinement for mentally ill inmates, and slow emergency responses.
One case cited by the medical experts was that of Manuel Cota-Domingo, a 34-year-old Guatemalan who died in December 2012 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix.
Cota-Domingo was in ICE custody at the Eloy Detention Center, which is run by the Corrections Corporation of America, when he had trouble breathing and was taken to the hospital.
The ICE review found Cota-Domingo’s cell mate banged on the cell door for several hours the night before Cota-Domingo died in an unsuccessful attempt to draw corrections officers’ attention to Cota-Domingo’s poor medical condition.
Creative Corrections, a consulting firm hired by ICE to provide subject-matter expertise on health care, found Eloy staff failed to comply with agency standards, the ICE report said.
The consultants found Eloy staff failed to move Cota Domingo to the medical unit in a timely fashion, take his temperature, accurately assess his cardiopulmonary status, order an EKG, and recognize the odor of his breath as a result of diabetic complications.
Three other deaths at the Eloy Detention Center were deemed to be suicides by the Pinal County Office of the Medical Examiner.
Elsa Guadalupe Gonzales, a 24-year-old Guatemalan, died April 28, 2013. Jorge Garcia Maldonado, a 40-year-old Guatemalan, died two days later. Jose Deniz Sahagun, a 31-year-old Mexican, died May 20, 2015 after repeated suicide attempts, the ICE report stated.
The ICE report stated the Eloy Detention Center failed to develop a suicide prevention plan, despite five suicides at the facility since 2005.
Each year, ICE has custody of between 300,000 and 500,000 people, the agency said. ICE spent more than $195 million in fiscal year 2015 on medical, dental, and mental healthcare for detainees, including 199,000 intake screenings and 126,000 sick call visits.
