U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released the identity of a person who died at an immigration detention center in Tacoma over the weekend. It's the second death of a detainee at the facility this year.
In a news release, ICE confirmed Jose Manuel Sanchez-Castro died at the Northwest ICE Processing Center on Sunday. He was a Mexican citizen. The facility, operated by GEO Group, holds people awaiting federal immigration proceedings.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner will work to determine what caused Sanchez-Castro's death.
ICE said it has notified the 36-year-old's next of kin as well as the Consulate General of Mexico in Seattle.
On Sunday at 7:05 a.m., Tacoma Police and Fire departments both received a call for medical services at the Northwest Detention Center, according to South Sound 911 records obtained by KNKX. The report indicated a man was unresponsive but breathing inside a detention center cell.
The immigrant rights advocacy group, La Resistencia, first reported the death. The group held an all-day vigil outside of the ICE facility Tuesday.
In a recording obtained by the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights and shared with KNKX, a nurse on a 9-1-1 call for medical services indicated that Sanchez-Castro had arrived at the facility on Tuesday, Oct. 22, and was kept in medical isolation because he had been suffering from fentanyl withdrawal.
La Resistencia suggested a lack treatment for Sanchez-Castro could have violated ICE's own standards. The group quoted an ICE rule that states "detainees experiencing severe, life-threatening intoxication or withdrawal symptoms shall be transferred immediately for either on-site or off-site emergency department evaluation."
ICE said in its news release that Sanchez-Castro had first entered the country illegally in August 2009. A week after his first arrest, he was voluntarily deported back to Mexico.
The federal agency said Sanchez-Castro was caught illegally entering the country eight times between then and July of this year. Over that period, he was convicted of federal and state offenses including resisting arrest and manufacture and delivery of amphetamine and or methamphetamine. Both of those convictions were in Yakima County District Court.
Charles Leo Daniel, an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago, died at the facility in March. The Pierce County Medical Examiner later found that Daniel died of natural causes.
The 61-year-old immigrant had been held in solitary confinement for close to four years, one of the longest stays in isolation at any immigration facility in the U.S., according to previous reporting from KNKX.
Daniel's death renewed concerns about conditions at the Northwest ICE Processing Center.
Members of Washington's congressional delegation visited the facility but said they were not allowed to speak to detainees. U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Adam Smith wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling for the phase out of for-profit prisons like the Tacoma detention center. Jayapal repeated that call Wednesday in a statement expressing condolences to Sanchez-Castro’s family.
The University of Washington Center for Human Rights has published a series of reports with findings that the facility overuses solitary confinement, and that detainees lack access to quality medical care and suffer from poor hygiene and sanitation. A report by the American Civil Liberties Union listed the facility as having one of the worst track records for deaths in ICE custody.
A U.S. District judge issued a ruling earlier this month ensuring inspectors with the Washington Department of Labor and Industries access to the facility. The Washington State Standard reported state inspectors last visited the facility in July and found no violations.
In ICE's news release about the death of Sanchez-Castro, the federal agency said its committed to ensuring a safe, secure and humane environment for those in custody. Detainees receive medical, dental and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of being booked into a facility, ICE said.
