In a new analysis of dozens of government reports, death reviews and audits of ICE detention centers NBC reports that during the past two years 22 migrants died in ICE custody. One of those deaths, Roxana Hernandez, occurred in New Mexico. An independent autopsy indicates that she suffered blunt force trauma while in ICE custody.

NBC points out that during the past year Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) issued three reports ” finding poor treatment and spotty oversight in ICE facilities.” These reports are:

• OIG-18-32: Concerns about ICE Detainee Treatment and Care at Detention Facilities. Research for this report was stimulated by large numbers of calls to the OIG hotline. OCPC, a facility in Chaparral NM that is run by the private prison firm Management and Training Corporation, is one of the facilities examined in the report.
• OIG-18-67: ICE’s Inspections and Monitoring of Detention Facilities Do Not Lead to Sustained Compliance or Systemic Improvements. This report examines Nakamoto Group, a private consulting firm that has repeatedly been hired by ICE to review detention standards at facilities in New Mexico.
• OIG-18-86: Management Alert – Issues Requiring Action at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, California. OIG found: nooses in cells, overly restrictive use of solitary, and inadequate medical care.

The tally [of 22 deaths in ICE custody] does not include the recent deaths of two Guatemalan children in CBP custody. Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7, and Felipe Alonzo-Gomez, 8, died within weeks of each other in December.

While not in an ICE detention center, these deaths also occurred in New Mexico.

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