23-year-old Brazilian man dies while in custody of ICE
23-year-old Brazilian man dies while in custody of ICE at abusive New Mexico detention center
Aug 29, 2022 10:30am Central Daylight Time by Gabe Ortiz, Daily Kos Staff
A 23-year-old Brazilian national died following a suicide attempt while in the custody of federal immigration officials earlier this month, civil and immigrant rights advocates said on Saturday. Kesley Vial had been held at the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico. House lawmakers just this year called for the private facility’s closure, following a blistering watchdog report that urged the release of all detained people inside.
The official release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) makes no mention of suicide, only that Vial “was found unresponsive” and taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. But advocates said the death was a result of “a fatal suicide attempt,” and that Kelsey had been detained at the CoreCivic facility for months without any updates on his case.
"What we do know is that Kesley was detained indefinitely at Torrance awaiting deportation and had been unable to get clear or consistent information from ICE about when he would be removed from the facility,” the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center (NMILC), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, Innovation Law Lab, and Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON) El Paso said in a joint statement. They said cellmates were among first to find him “and have been acutely traumatized by his death, yet ICE is refusing to release them so they can seek the mental health care they need.”
”ICE, CoreCivic, and Torrance County share in the responsibility for Kesley’s death,” the groups continued. “This is exactly what we feared would come to pass. Our organizations and others have raised the alarm for years about the brutal and inhumane conditions at Torrance.” They note the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general, just this past March, made the unprecedented request that ICE move detainees from the facility, citing in part “egregious conditions.”
Story at
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/29/2119484/-Advocates-call-death-of-23-year-old-Brazilian-man-while-in-ICE-custody-preventable-tragedy