An illegal immigrant in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement has died as a result of contracting the coronavirus, marking the second death of a detainee during the pandemic, according to the agency.
ICE on Monday announced the death of Guatemalan citizen Santiago Baten-Oxlaj. The 34-year-old man had been held at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, and was supposed to be removed to Guatemala in late March, ICE said.
“Santiago Baten-Oxlaj, 34, was pronounced dead at 5:03 a.m. local time by medical professionals at the Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital, in Columbus, Georgia, where he had been hospitalized since April 17, 2020,” ICE wrote in a news release. “The preliminary cause of death was listed as complications related to COVID-19.”
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ICE arrested Baten-Oxlaj in Marietta, Georgia, on March 2 while he visited a probation office following a conviction for driving under the influence. On March 26, a federal judge granted him a voluntary return to Guatemala. ICE did not share information about any preexisting conditions Baten-Oxlaj may have had or the events leading up to his hospitalization.
The agency said it contacted the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, its internal Office of Professional Responsibility, the Guatemalan consulate, and Baten-Oxlaj’s family.
“Fatalities in ICE custody, statistically, are exceedingly rare and occur at a fraction of the national average for the U.S. detained population,” it said in a statement. “ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases.”
As of May 16, ICE’s detention centers, some of which are run by private contractors, held 26,600 people, roughly half of its capacity nationwide. ICE arrests immigrants illegally present in the United States for civil violations after they have been arrested by local or state law enforcement for other offenses. Approximately 11.4 million people are in the U.S. illegally, according to a Migration Policy Institute.
ICE’s website states 1,201 detainees have tested positive for the coronavirus of the 2,394 people it has tested. The Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California, has reported the most cases out of dozens of facilities where its arrestees are held, with 155 cases.
ICE defended its care of those in custody and said each person undergoes a medical, dental, and mental health screening within 12 hours of arriving at a detention facility, and a full health assessment within 14 days. Detainees also have access to “daily sick call” and 24-hour emergency care, the agency said.
