{"id":13645,"date":"2026-06-02T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=13645"},"modified":"2026-06-02T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:00:00","slug":"festering-infections-to-untreated-cancer-ice-detainees-describe-medical-neglect-across-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=13645","title":{"rendered":"Festering Infections to Untreated Cancer: ICE Detainees Describe Medical Neglect Across US"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Albanian man\u2019s pain grew so unbearable, he said, he pulled out his own tooth as he languished for months in a New Mexico immigration detention center. A Honduran mother of two said she was hospitalized for a heart problem after she was denied blood pressure medications while held in Florida. A Venezuelan man<\/a> said his leg grew purple and swollen from flesh-eating bacteria when staffers at a Vermont facility did not bring him to a scheduled doctor appointment.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of detainees across at least 33 states allege in federal suits that immigration detention facilities are failing to provide adequate medical care, an investigation by KFF Health News and The Associated Press found. Detainees say they didn\u2019t get medications on time \u2014 or at all \u2014 for conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, epilepsy, Parkinson\u2019s, and HIV. Requests for help went unanswered for weeks. Blood sugars rose. Infections festered. Cancers remained untreated. Detainees collapsed and had seizures.<\/p>\n

U.S. jails and immigration detention centers have long struggled<\/a> to meet the medical needs of the people in their charge. But the system is sagging under an influx of detentions since President Donald Trump returned to office: More than 75,000 immigrants were being detained by\u00a0U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as of mid-January<\/a>, up from around 40,000 a year earlier.<\/p>\n

KFF Health News and AP analyzed thousands of court cases filed since Trump\u2019s second inauguration that use a legal route known as habeas corpus to argue people are being held illegally by ICE. The records offer a rare window into how those detained say, often under penalty of perjury, ICE is handling their medical needs. Reporters also interviewed more than 50 detainees, family members, and lawyers.<\/p>\n

The investigation revealed that medical neglect is alleged across the sprawling detention system, including in offices not designed to house people, county jails, and quickly staged sites with nicknames such as \u201cAlligator Alcatraz.\u201d<\/p>\n

ICE custody is deadlier than it has been in two decades, researchers wrote in JAMA<\/a> in April. The Department of Homeland Security reported 51 people had died in detention since the start of Trump\u2019s second administration \u2014 with suicides spiking to an unprecedented number<\/a>.<\/p>\n

KFF Health News and AP asked DHS to respond to the findings six days before publication, but it did not provide comment. The department\u2019s acting Chief Medical Officer Sean Conley has previously said<\/a> \u201cit is both policy and longstanding practice for aliens to receive timely and appropriate medical care from the moment they enter ICE custody\u201d and that the agency recruits healthcare professionals to maintain high standards. \u201cThis is better, more responsive healthcare than many aliens have ever received in their entire lives,\u201d he has said.<\/p>\n

Individual facilities and private prison companies contracting with DHS that responded to requests for comment said they follow ICE standards and detainees receive medical care when it is required. Some said they were unfamiliar with the allegations outlined in court documents; others blamed some detainees for lapses in their medical care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never seen such disregard or medical neglect like this anywhere,\u201d Vardan Gukasian, a political dissident and former paramedic who spent years behind bars in Armenia, wrote in a court declaration<\/a> in March to contest his detention in Henderson, Nevada, as it stretched to 13 months despite health problems.<\/p>\n

Madeleine Skains, a spokesperson for the city of Henderson, said medical care is always available at the facility and that the court had not ordered changes to his care.<\/p>\n

Last June, as Gukasian experienced the symptoms of uncontrolled high blood pressure \u2014 dizziness, a nosebleed, and a headache \u2014 his cellmate banged on their door for help.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it did not arrive, the rest of the block banged on their doors,\u201d he wrote. Gukasian was hospitalized that day.<\/p>\n

\u2018Brazen Indifference to Really Obvious Problems\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s mass deportation effort has swept up hundreds of thousands of people<\/a> during routine immigration check-ins, at traffic stops, at their homes, and in hospitals.<\/p>\n

About 70% of detainees<\/a> have no criminal conviction. Their immigration proceedings are civil, not criminal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t understand why they treated me so harshly,\u201d said a father of six in Georgia. He said he was injured while shackled in custody when the vehicle transporting him to an Atlanta facility jolted, throwing him out of his seat and into a metal armrest. His wound became infected with E. coli<\/em>, he said, because he had to sleep on a dirty concrete floor amid leaking toilets.<\/p>\n

Like other detainees interviewed, he spoke on the condition of anonymity; they said they fear for their safety, for the safety of their families, or that speaking out would jeopardize their immigration cases. The AP and KFF Health News are not naming anyone identified in court documents without their consent.<\/p>\n

Staffers at Stewart Detention Center in rural Lumpkin, Georgia, didn\u2019t adequately respond to that man\u2019s request for medical help, a court filing says<\/a>, until he passed out and was taken to a hospital about an hour away. There, he said, a doctor told him he\u2019d narrowly escaped amputation of his left leg. Medical staff found no records of a case matching this description, according to Brian Todd, a spokesperson for CoreCivic, which runs the facility.<\/p>\n

The 48-year-old, who moved to the U.S. from Guatemala more than two decades ago, was released in October and is now a legal permanent resident. But he is unsure if he\u2019ll be able to return to his job in construction because, he said, he can no longer lift heavy things due to his injury.<\/p>\n

A man in the Atlanta area was injured while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and developed an E. coli<\/em> infection. \u201cI couldn\u2019t understand why they treated me so harshly,\u201d says the father of six U.S. citizens, who is now a legal permanent resident but did not want to be named to avoid potential retaliation against his family. (Brynn Anderson\/AP)<\/p>\n

Some detainees or their lawyers said even basic care was denied: gauze to protect an open foot wound, prenatal care for a high-risk pregnancy, a pillow to ease the pain of sleeping with advanced stomach cancer, sanitary pads for postpartum bleeding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to believe the government has the best interest of those it holds in detention for whatever period of time,\u201d Judge Benita Pearson, a federal judge in Ohio, said during a hearing in October concerning a 70-year-old who alleged the government lost her glasses during her arrest. \u201cIf one is unable to see due to the loss of glasses when detained, that should be fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dora Schriro<\/a>, who worked for ICE and now serves as a special adviser to the American Bar Association, said case law requires the government to treat people in immigration detention with the same care it affords those in traditional jails awaiting trial. But administrators are granted discretion and medical care standards vary.<\/p>\n

Detainees are frequently moved across the country, often without warning, interrupting treatment. A woman from El Salvador said she missed a week of HIV medication when she was transferred from Colorado to a county jail in Wyoming.<\/p>\n

A Russian man wrote that, while detained in Texas, he saw a gastroenterologist about his painful gallstones and scheduled an appointment with a surgeon. \u201cUnfortunately, I never got to see him, due to my being moved around various detention centers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advocates say that even obvious disabilities, like legal blindness, are ignored.<\/p>\n

A detainee who lost one eye and had severe glaucoma in the other required twice-daily drops to maintain what vision remained. But, he said, some days the drops never came.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I can only see a little bit straight in front. It now often looks like I\u2019m seeing through gauze,\u201d the man wrote in a court declaration. \u201cThis makes me very afraid that one of these times I am going to open my eyes and not be able to see anything at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wrote that he was scared he wouldn\u2019t be able to see his infant son grow up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just sort of brazen indifference to really obvious problems, things you would have thought absurd a decade ago \u2014 like the fact that you can\u2019t see,\u201d the man\u2019s attorney, Brian Hoffman, said. \u201cBefore, you could attempt to work with folks on the government side and maybe shame them into doing the right thing. Now, it\u2019s sort of like anything you want done you have to go to court and sue over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even court orders aren\u2019t always enough. One California judge ordered the government to take a man showing signs of prostate cancer to a specialist for diagnosis and treatment. Records show they did not take him.<\/p>\n

Lawyers representing ICE told the judge that officials missed the appointment because of an \u201cinternal scheduling error.\u201d CoreCivic, which runs that facility, said it was unable to comment on active litigation.<\/p>\n

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A Surge in Cases<\/strong><\/p>\n

When immigrants file habeas corpus petitions, they exercise a right to challenge unlawful imprisonment that dates back to medieval times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than 40,000 such petitions have been filed during Trump\u2019s second term, fueled by decisions last year to deny bond to many people held on immigration charges. Judges are split on whether that\u2019s legal; the question appears headed to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Many habeas claims have been successful<\/a>, but judges typically cite reasons unrelated to the medical neglect described in the petitions, such as detainees\u2019 being held too long before being deported.<\/p>\n

The more than 300 medical neglect claims found in this investigation represent a fraction of the problem. The details of habeas corpus cases are often hidden due to a federal rule barring the public from viewing such documents online. KFF Health News and the AP obtained some documents from courthouses and received records on 4,400 cases from Habeas Dockets<\/a>, a project of the nonprofit Immigration Justice Transparency Initiative. But tens of thousands more remain largely inaccessible.<\/p>\n

Some judges have written that the habeas process is not how to raise allegations of medical neglect and have declined to release detainees over those claims. Not every detainee who believes they experienced medical neglect files a habeas petition or cites their medical issues if they do.<\/p>\n

Jose-Antonio Segismundo\u2019s petition made no mention of being unable to see an oncologist for the cancer in his abdomen while detained for more than seven months at the Florida detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz and Folkston D Ray ICE Processing Center in Georgia. Medical records in his court filings show he was arrested about five weeks before his scheduled appointment with a cancer specialist.<\/p>\n

His wife, Maria Jose Gonzalez, said he didn\u2019t receive any treatment even though she sent his medical records and explained his condition to officials at Folkston. When his stomach pain erupted, often suddenly and intensely, she said, they gave him Tylenol.<\/p>\n

Geo Group, which runs Folkston, follows ICE standards and provides healthcare and access to off-site medical specialists when needed, spokesperson Christopher Ferreira said.<\/p>\n

This spring, Segismundo, 48, was deported to Mexico, a country he left nearly 30 years ago, Gonzalez said. Now, she said, he will have to restart his search for care in the Oaxacan village where he grew up.<\/p>\n

Maria Jose Gonzalez of Wimauma, Florida, holds a photo of her husband, Jose-Antonio Segismundo, who was detained in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for more than seven months in Florida and Georgia before being deported to Mexico. Medical records show he was arrested about five weeks before his scheduled appointment with a specialist to treat his abdominal cancer. (Chris O’Meara\/AP)<\/p>\n

Watching Loved Ones Deteriorate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Detainees receiving inadequate healthcare have little recourse. The Department of Homeland Security last year gutted the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. In early May, it shut the office entirely, arguing that Congress didn\u2019t fund it.<\/p>\n

Previously, ombudsman staffers could help facilitate medical care or look into complaints of neglect, according to Matt Boles, an immigration attorney in Georgia. Now, he said, there\u2019s no one to call.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, detainees\u2019 families said they feel helpless, making desperate calls to facilities, the government, and their legislators while watching their loved ones deteriorate.<\/p>\n

Riya Khan saw her mother get sicker at the California City Detention Facility, which is owned by CoreCivic. When she visited a week after her mother arrived at the facility in the Mojave Desert, Riya said, the 64-year-old woman stumbled into her seat. She was shaking and her breathing was labored.<\/p>\n

Masuma Khan came to the U.S. from Bangladesh in 1997. She has no criminal history, her records say, and was detained in October when she showed up for her regular ICE check-in.<\/p>\n

For the month she was detained, according to her daughter, she only intermittently received her medications for conditions including high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, and prediabetes. CoreCivic treats chronic conditions in line with applicable medical standards, Todd said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing matters more to CoreCivic than the health, safety and well-being of the people in our care,\u201d Todd said.<\/p>\n

Khan said she got her asthma medication for the first time two days before she was released and that her eye drops for glaucoma never arrived. Staffers told Khan she needed to buy some of her medications from the commissary but it didn\u2019t stock them, her daughter said.<\/p>\n

Before ICE detained Masuma Khan, she made friends with everyone, her daughter said. She had worked for years at Lucky Boy, an iconic Pasadena fast-food restaurant, and in her free time fed birds and left out fruit for bees that visited her apartment\u2019s balcony.<\/p>\n

Now she\u2019s too scared to go outside. She still must regularly check in with ICE, and she\u2019s terrified each time.<\/p>\n

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Masuma Khan (center) waits in line with her attorney Laboni Hoq (left of Khan) to enter a federal building in Los Angeles for an appointment on April 21. (Jae C. Hong\/AP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Khan (second from right in the front row) and her daughter, Riya (fourth from right in the front row), pose with supporters outside a federal building in Los Angeles on April 21. (Jae C. Hong\/AP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Khan (right) came to the U.S. from Bangladesh in 1997 and was detained for a month after she showed up for a regular check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in October. Here, she hugs her daughter, Riya (left). (Jae C. Hong\/AP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A \u201cWelcome Home\u201d balloon that was left at the front door of Khan\u2019s apartment in Altadena, California, after she was released from an immigration detention facility. (Jae C. Hong\/AP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Khan\u2019s daughter says that her mother has nightmares and is scared to go outside after being held at an immigration detention facility for a month in 2025. (Jae C. Hong\/AP)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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