Legislators are calling on the Homeland Security watchdog to open an investigation into the circumstances around the death of a transgender asylum-seeker while in federal immigration custody last May, including a report that officials wrongfully deleted surveillance video that could have provided key answers into her treatment before she later died in a New Mexico hospital.
“We are alarmed by reports that ICE failed to preserve surveillance footage related to the death of Roxsana Hernández,” members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, as well as several House committee chairs, write to the DHS inspector general. “This video footage would have shown Ms. Hernandez’s final days in ICE detention before she was transferred to the hospital and died.”
BuzzFeed News reported last month that officials had deleted the footage the following summer in spite of federal rules stating they’re required to preserve such materials in case of court litigation. Officials, attorneys said, “should have anticipated being sued over the 33-year-old’s death.” The Transgender Law Center and the Law Office of Andrew R. Free filed a Notice of Wrongful Death Tort Claim in November.
Legislators also want a probe into Roxsana’s treatment while jailed at a private detention facility owned by prison profiteers CoreCivic. “Ms. Hernandez’s family and attorneys contend her death was preventable because she received inadequate medical care. In addition, they allege Ms. Hernandez was physically abused while detained at the Cibola County Corrections Center. An independent autopsy found evidence of physical assault and abuse, including deep bruising on Ms. Hernandez’s rib cage and deep contusions on her back. Her wrists also showed bleeding consistent with handcuff injuries.”
This is the second major call for action in the past several weeks, after Senators Richard Blumenthal and Kamala Harris also issued a letter demanding the Justice Department appoint a special counsel to investigate why ICE deleted this footage. “The need for answers is all the more acute in light of other deaths in U.S. custody, including the deaths of transgender individuals, and reports of insufficient medical care at U.S. facilities, including ICE facilities,” they said. Leading groups have said that even after numerous in-custody deaths, ICE continues to deny LGBTQ detainees basic health care.
ICE continues to operate with impunity, and that now apparently includes deleting vital evidence that could have provided much-needed answers into how and why an asylum-seeker who should have been allowed to pursue her case in freedom languished to the point that she later died in intensive care while under U.S watch. “ICE must be held accountable for denying Roxsana’s family justice,” the Hispanic Caucus tweeted.