(cache) Man mistakenly detained is tenth immigrant to die under ICE custody this year

Man mistakenly detained is tenth immigrant to die under ICE custody this year

Tuesday Jun 27, 2017 · 1:22 PM PDT

2017/06/27 · 13:22

Screen_Shot_2017-06-27_at_1.07.36_PM.png — Advocates protest outside the facility where Meza Espinoza was held

An undocumented man who may have been mistakenly arrested by federal immigration agents is the tenth immigrant to die while under ICE custody this fiscal year.

Rolando Meza Espinoza was arrested at work at the end of March and had been under federal custody since. On June 8, Meza Espinoza—who suffered from anemia, cirrhosis of the liver, and diabetes—was hospitalized due to "gastrointestinal bleeding,” according to an ICE statement. When Meza Espinoza died in intensive care two days later, ICE never bothered to inform the family, instead letting them find out on their own when they called to check in on him the next day.

During a rally protesting the treatment of detainees, Meza Espinoza’s advocates called for justice:

The Rev. Eugene P. Squeo, pastor at St. Patrick and Assumption All Saints in Jersey City, called for an end to the "cruelty of the detainment and deportation system."

"What care was provided" for Meza Espinoza, Squeo asked today. "What care was denied? Why does ICE not treat people with dignity?"

Making this immigrant man’s death even more senseless is that ICE allegedly misidentified their target, claims attorney Manuel Portela.

According to Portela, ICE agents arrested Meza Espinoza on March 28 at his Long Island worksite, told him he was facing an order of deportation and transferred him to Kearny the next day. Portela said his firm provided "documentary proof" that Meza Espinoza was never ordered deported and was not the Rolando Meza ICE agents were looking for.

The family has been left reeling, since Meza Espinoza wasn’t just a loving partner and father of three, but also his family’s primary breadwinner. The family is "doing very badly,” said Portela.

Immigration officials are trying to lay the blame on Hudson County Jail, which they say was responsible for his medications. The facility has already been a target of human and civil rights advocates in the past:

“This is a long standing battle that we have been engaging with Hudson County Jail, with the inadequate medical conditions,” said Sally Pillay of the First Friends of New York and New Jersey. “Last year with our national partners civic we actually filed a multi-individual complaint. 61 individuals were highlighted in this complaint.”

Robert Steinberg will pursue a wrongful death action and wrongful detainer action on behalf of Rolando Meza's family.

Despite these deaths, Donald Trump, congressional Republicans, and John Kelly have taken no steps to enact any sort of oversight on the agency, instead moving to speed up the hiring of immigration agents in order to ramp up deportations. That means that what’s already been 10 deaths this fiscal year could keep climbing. All lives matter, unless you’re black or brown, apparently.

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