Immigrant who was detained at ICE facility in New Jersey died after medical emergency

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Aug 12 (Reuters) – An immigrant from Guatemala who was taken to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, in July experienced a medical emergency and died after hospitalization, President Donald Trump’s administration said.

Jose Chajon-Raxon was detained by ICE at the Delaney Hall detention facility on July 18 and experienced a medical emergency the next day, the Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. 

A nurse responded to the medical emergency and “witnessed Chajon-Raxon experiencing seizure-like activity,” the DHS said, adding medical workers were called and Chajon-Raxon was taken to a hospital. 

The DHS said Chajon-Raxon was “released from ICE custody on July 22” but did not provide more details on that. The DHS statement did not mention when Chajon-Raxon died. 

Delaney Hall in Newark has previously come under scrutiny from human rights advocates and Democrats following the deaths in ICE detention of a man from El Salvador named Edwin ​Lopez-Cornejo and another from Haiti named Jean Wilson Brutus. The Salvadoran man died this month after a medical emergency while the Haitian man died in December. 

ICE was not notified of Chajon-Raxon’s death as it was “not responsible when an individual passes away weeks after leaving their custody,” the DHS said. 

Democratic U.S. Representative Rob Menendez said he had been given conflicting information on Chajon-Raxon’s death, adding that he went to the ICE facility on August 3 in an oversight visit. 

More than 50 people have died in ICE custody nationwide since President Donald Trump ‌took office ⁠in January last year. Rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about medical care and living conditions at the facilities. 

ICE says detainees are given appropriate medical care.

The agency has been the face of Trump’s immigration crackdown. The Republican president says the crackdown aims to improve domestic security. 

Rights groups say the crackdown has ⁠violated ​free speech and due process rights and ​created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling.     

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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