A 39-year-old Westminster man died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, Sept. 22, after being detained for nearly a month inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, according to federal authorities.
Ismael Ayala-Uribe was arrested by ICE on Aug. 17 during a raid at an Orange County car wash, according to 4 Los Angeles, and transferred to the detention center on Aug. 22 for immigration proceedings, according to an ICE press release. The center is northwest of Victorville.
On Sept. 21, he was referred to the Victor Valley Global Medical Center to evaluate an abscess on his buttocks and scheduled for surgery. ICE said Ayala-Uribe was also experiencing hypertension and tachycardia, a fast heart rate.
The next morning, at 1:48 a.m., the hospital declared him unresponsive and staffers initiated lifesaving measures. Less than an hour later, Ayala-Uribe was declared dead.
“Saturday was the last time I visited him,” Lucia Ayala, his mother, told CBS News in Spanish. “He looked very pale and his hands appeared red.”
The cause of Ayala-Uribe’s death is under investigation, ICE said. Meanwhile, Ayala-Uribe’s mother told the station that he died after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Ayala-Uribe’s family told CBS that his health was good when he was sent to Adelanto. His family could see that he was sick during their weekly Saturday visits, and told him to seek medical attention.
“ICE remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments,” ICE said. “Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.”
Ayala-Uribe is at least the 14th person to die in ICE custody this year, according to ICE’s Detainee Death Reporting site.
Ayala-Uribe grew up in Westminster, according to LA Taco, after being brought to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 4.
In 2012, Ayala-Uribe applied for and became a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, ICE said. Three years later he was convicted of a DUI in Orange County, and sentenced to three years of probation, ICE said.
In 2016, when he re-applied for DACA, his application was denied. He was convicted of his second DUI in Orange County, and sentenced to four months in jail plus five years of probation, ICE said.
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department offered its condolences to the Ayala-Uribe’s family and said the Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino would follow up with authorities at the immigration detention center to ensure a thorough investigation will “fully clarify” the cause of the death. Mexican officials are in contact with the family to offer legal assistance and other help.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday, Sept. 24, it is increasing its patrols around the Adelanto ICE facility due to an unrelated event in Texas where a gunman targeted a Dallas ICE field office that left two detainees dead and one in critical condition.
GEO Group, the private prison company that owns and manages the Adelanto ICE facility, responded to a request for comment and questions by referring the Southern California News Group to ICE and its press release.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, its parent organization, did not respond to requests for more information about Ayala-Uribe.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.