EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Researchers say the rapid expansion of immigration detention in the U.S. is partly to blame for an increase in the deaths of people in federal custody.
Since January, 15 people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, including a migrant who was killed on Wednesday outside a detention facility in Dallas, and a Mexican man who fell ill at a California facility and died at the hospital this week.
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In this episode of Border Report Live, correspondent Sandra Sanchez speaks with Austin Kocher, a professor at Syracuse University who is part of independent projects that collect immigration data from ICE. In the past, he has published countless reports on immigration-related topics like capacity at detention facilities and the outcomes of immigration hearings in the courts.
In tracking deaths, he noted that some of the data can be incomplete or misleading. If a migrant died shortly after being released, for example, that death might not be included in ICE’s figures even though the individual might have become sick inside the facility.
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He said Friday that the rapid expansion of immigration detention also leads to inadequate care and/or oversight to ensure that those services are provided and provided in a timely fashion.
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