"A week earlier, immigration agents had grabbed Julio César Peña from his front yard in Glendale, California. Now, he was in a hospital after suffering a ministroke. He was shackled to the bed by his hand and foot, he told Romero, and agents were in the room, listening to the call. He was scared he would die and wanted his wife there."
"Peña's deportation officer and the medical contractor at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center refused to tell her. Exasperated, she tried calling a nearby hospital, Providence St. Mary Medical Center. "They said even if they had a person in ICE custody under their care, they wouldn't be able to confirm whether he's there or not, that only ICE can give me the information," Chabolla said. The hospital confirmed this policy to KFF Health News."
"Lydia Romero strained to hear her husband's feeble voice through the phone. A week earlier, immigration agents had grabbed Julio César Peña from his front yard in Glendale, California. Now, he was in a hospital after suffering a ministroke. He was shackled to the bed by his hand and foot, he told Romero, and agents were in the room, listening to the call. He was scared he would die and wanted his wife there."
Family members and attorneys face extreme difficulty locating hospitalized immigration detainees and obtaining information about their condition. Hospitals often refuse to confirm whether they are treating patients in ICE custody and decline to facilitate contact with family or lawyers. Immigration officers and detention contractors control access and information, sometimes keeping patients shackled to beds and monitoring calls. Patients report fear, isolation, and inability to receive emotional or legal support. These practices can impede timely medical advocacy, interfere with informed consent, and risk deprivation of constitutional protections for detained individuals. Legal representatives report being blocked from basic case information, complicating efforts to challenge deportation or ensure appropriate care.
Read at Truthout
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