Mexico demands answers after another migrant dies in ICE custody

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Nardine SaadLos Angeles

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Mexico announces support of lawsuit against ICE after deaths in custody

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has vowed to take action after the death of another Mexican national in US immigration custody.

Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano died last week at a detention centre in Adelanto, southern California - the fourth fatality at the facility this year.

He is the 14th migrant to have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody this year. His cause of death has not yet been determined.

Mexico’s government is filing a legal brief as part of a class-action lawsuit alleging unconstitutional conditions at the centre. The number of immigrants in ICE custody is among the highest ever, with ​68,000 held as of last month.

Ramos-Solano, 52, died on 25 March while being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, the agency said.

ICE said that Ramos-Solano, who had been convicted of possession of a controlled substance and theft, was in the US illegally.

Life-saving measures, including CPR, were immediately initiated as Ramos-Solano was found “unconscious and unresponsive in his bunk”, but he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, according to ICE.

The agency said a medical screening of Ramos-Solano after his arrest in February found he had diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure.

It said he had “received constant medical care while he was in custody, including daily medication to treat his illness”.

Ramos-Solano and the three others who died at the Adelanto ICE facility were Mexican nationals, raising this year’s nationwide deaths in ICE custody to 14.

Last year, ICE hit a two-decade high when it reported 31 detainee deaths.

This year’s death toll appears on track to outpace last year’s as President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on illegal immigration.

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Four Mexican nationals have died in US federal custody at the ICE detention facility in Adelanto, California.

President Sheinbaum told her daily morning press conference on Monday that Mexico was “going to take greater measures”.

“We’re going to take several steps to protest the death of yet another Mexican national in the United States,” she said.

During a news conference at the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles on Monday, Ramos-Solano’s children briefly spoke through tears.

“What happened to my dad was very inhumane,” said his daughter, Gloria Ramos. “I think my family and I deserve to know the truth of what happened to my dad.”

Vanessa Calva Ruiz, director general for consular protection and strategic planning, told the news conference: “The government of Mexico will exhaust all legal, diplomatic and multilateral avenues to demand justice.”

Mexico’s government said it supported a class-action lawsuit filed in January against the GEO Group Inc, a private contractor that operates the Adelanto facility.

The legal action alleges detainees at the detention centre face mould, disease, medical neglect and inadequate food and water.

Representatives for the Geo Group did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.

It has previously said its facilities offer round-the-clock medical care and are monitored by the Department of Homeland Security to ensure compliance.

US immigration

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