We often hear our immigration system is broken. Sometimes we not only hear it, we see it.
Tragic instances of migrants dying of exposure somewhere in the desert or drowning in the Rio Grande have become much too frequent. Earlier this summer, 53 migrants from Mexico and Central America died after being trapped by their coyotes in a sweltering tractor-trailer found in San Antonio. The gruesome crime scene was the deadliest migrant smuggling case in US history.
But we don’t expect and shouldn’t accept the deaths of migrants in US custody.
The recent hanging death of a Brazilian man right here in New Mexico raises serious questions about the welfare of migrants in federal custody.
Kesley Vial of Brazil, who was just 23 years old, was found unresponsive Aug. 17 in his cell at the Torrance County Detention Facility. He died a week later.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say Vial was caught by Border Patrol agents April 22 after entering the country illegally near El Paso. Immigration rights advocates say he was in ICE custody for months in “abhorrent conditions” while awaiting proceedings. The ACLU of New Mexico claims he was being “detained indefinitely.”
Vial had sought asylum in the United States but was denied after failing a “fear interview” in June, according to the ACLU, which added Vial was “unable to get clear or consistent information from ICE about when he would be removed.”
An average stay at the Torrance County facility, according to ICE records, is 45 days. But vial had been there for more than three months. Why so long? There was no criminal concern. Why wasn’t he returned to Brazil promptly after failing to move forward in the asylum process?
A Journal reporter attempted to get some answers, but an ICE spokeswoman did not respond to a call or email.
Sophia Genovese, a senior attorney with the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, says some migrants have to wait up to two months just to see a judge because of court delays. She said the wait for Vial became “just too much.”
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All this follows a disturbing report by the Department of Homeland Security inspector general in February that called the conditions at the facility in Estancia unsafe and unsanitary. The IG report went so far as to recommend all of the roughly 150 migrants detained there be immediately transferred elsewhere. The ACLU of New Mexico has called for their “immediate release, not transfer.”
Genovese says Vial’s death was “preventable.” She says her group has received complaints that male detainees at the Torrance County facility are allowed to go outside for only an hour a day, if at all, due to staffing shortages; the food is “inedible”; and there is not enough water.
ICE and CoreCivic, a private company that runs the Torrance County facility for about $2 million per month, dispute the IG’s report. A lawyer for Tennessee-based CoreCivic has claimed the IG’s Office manufactured evidence and staged misleading photographs “to achieve preconceived conclusions.”
It’s still not clear who’s painting the truer picture.
US Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-Albuquerque, has called on the Biden administration for “increased oversight” of the Torrance County facility, which it merits based on recent reports. “My office and I will continue our oversight efforts to ensure that the public fully understands the causes and circumstances surrounding this death and are here to support the community,” Stansbury said this week.
ICE says it is “undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review” of Vial’s death. A public report is expected in a month. The “detainee death review” detailing Vial’s time in federal custody needs to be a thorough and transparent report explaining why Vial was denied asylum, why he was detained so long, and what, if any, communication preceded his death.
Anything less is unacceptable if ICE wants the public’s trust.
This editorial first appeared in the . It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
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