Luis Ramirez-Marcano, a 59-year-old Cuban man, has become the third immigrant to die while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention this fiscal year. Ramirez-Marcano was transferred from Miami’s Krome Detention Center to a hospital after complaining about adbominal pain, the New York Daily News reports:
"On Feb. 18, medical staff at KRMC informed ICE staff that Ramirez-Marcano was transferred to the intensive care unit where his condition continued to decline," the agency said in a statement.
"Despite round-the-clock care, Ramirez-Marcano passed away the afternoon of Feb. 19."
Kamyar Samini, a 64-year-old Iranian man, died on December 2 due to cardiac arrest while in ICE custody, the first of fiscal year 2018. Yulio Castro-Garrido, a 33-year-old Cuban man, died from pneumonia on January 22. ICE initially alleged that Castro-Garrido refused treatment, then later said that he “was resistant to some forms of medical intervention.” The cause of Ramirez-Marcano’s death is so far unknown.
For years, detainees have alleged that Krome, formerly a “Cold War-era air defense base,” has been “troubled by mismanagement and abuse,” according to the Miami New Times in 2015. “Detainees have alleged they were badly treated by unruly guards; former guards, meanwhile, say they've been systematically retaliated against for speaking out about problems.”
“Fatalities in ICE custody … are exceedingly rare,” the agency claimed in a press release, but fiscal year 2017 was ICE’s deadliest year since 2009. With congressional Republicans only wanting to throw more money at ICE and a mass deportation architect like ICE acting Director Thomas Homan in control, 2018 could be even more terrifying, and even more deadly.
