Thompson Inquires on Death of Roxsana Hernandez Rodriguez
(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to the Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding the disturbing and tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Roxsana Hernandez Rodriguez, who was detained at a privately contracted ICE facility earlier this year.
In the letter, Ranking Member Thompson writes:
The seemingly preventable death of Ms. Hernandez Rodriguez is just one of 11 deaths at adult immigration detention centers this year. Other serious incidents have been uncovered at immigration detention facilities across the country. In September, for example, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a management alert detailing several troubling violations of ICE detention standards at the ICE Processing Facility in Adelanto, California operated by another contractor, The GEO Group. These detainee deaths and detention standard violations raise serious questions about the treatment of individuals in ICE custody, particularly especially vulnerable individuals and, more broadly, about your agency’s oversight of contract detention facilities.
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Media contact: Adam Comis at (202) 225-9978
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