The growing ICE death toll is alarming, but official numbers capture only one part of the deadly effects of detention. Here's a framework for understanding the full scope of the damage.
I have volunteered for 6 years trying (and sometimes succeeding) in getting folks released from detention and then to shelters or friends and relatives. All have been traumatized to an incredible degree, especially of course the kids getting out of Dilley. There is a national protest in front of Dilley near San Antonio on April 18th and I wish I could participate. I often post your insightful work at the Witness at the Border group (20K followers) on Facebook. Thanks for all you continue to do.
Great analysis, Austin. So helpful and clear. I'm thinking of a 4th category as well, though this one is also untrackable: the human suffering and likely death toll that occurs as a result of Trump & Co's mass deportation campaign, whether through direct or chain refoulement, or indefinite imprisonment in a third country the regime deems to be "safe." Like Sudan or the DRC. Thanks again!
Austin, I have been running reviews across nine evidence streams. Peer-reviewed literature, litigation records, advocacy documentation, journalism, local and Spanish-language reporting, obscure-source leads. Your framework mirrors and holds against all of them.
But several specifics may be useful to you. The geographic clustering is not random. Adelanto, South Florida, Dilley, Camp East Montana, Broadview. These names repeat across every source type. So do the mechanisms. Interrupted medication. Delayed emergency response. Transfer that fragments the medical record. Locator systems that make detainees invisible to counsel and family. Solitary confinement undercounted because the reporting rules changed.
Category Three is much deeper than we know. A woman processed into Alternatives to Detention, fitted with an ankle monitor, found dead in Pittsburgh. A man who deteriorated into sepsis and encephalopathy in Texas custody, flown by ICE-funded air ambulance to Costa Rica in a profoundly incapacitated state, found dead. A six-year-old with leukemia arrested at a courthouse, transferred to Dilley. A thirteen-year-old girl who attempted suicide after her antidepressants were withheld. Spanish-language local reporting is surfacing family chronologies and records that contradict official narratives before the English-language press knows they exist.
The post-release review mechanism you flag has never been used. The oversight offices that might have tracked these cases shut down. The system is dismantling the tools which could be used to audit it. Keep at it. Let us know what we can do to support you. Thank you for this.
Tonight I am speaking to Bisbee City Council for the third why to not let ICE use city property at all for their deadly antics. Your post has been immensely useful! Thank you.
Thank you for your dedication to exposing the grim truth of ICE's inhumane practices.
Of course, and thank you for making this work possible, Leslie.
It seems as if these lives are viewed as disposable.
I have volunteered for 6 years trying (and sometimes succeeding) in getting folks released from detention and then to shelters or friends and relatives. All have been traumatized to an incredible degree, especially of course the kids getting out of Dilley. There is a national protest in front of Dilley near San Antonio on April 18th and I wish I could participate. I often post your insightful work at the Witness at the Border group (20K followers) on Facebook. Thanks for all you continue to do.
Great analysis, Austin. So helpful and clear. I'm thinking of a 4th category as well, though this one is also untrackable: the human suffering and likely death toll that occurs as a result of Trump & Co's mass deportation campaign, whether through direct or chain refoulement, or indefinite imprisonment in a third country the regime deems to be "safe." Like Sudan or the DRC. Thanks again!
Austin, I have been running reviews across nine evidence streams. Peer-reviewed literature, litigation records, advocacy documentation, journalism, local and Spanish-language reporting, obscure-source leads. Your framework mirrors and holds against all of them.
But several specifics may be useful to you. The geographic clustering is not random. Adelanto, South Florida, Dilley, Camp East Montana, Broadview. These names repeat across every source type. So do the mechanisms. Interrupted medication. Delayed emergency response. Transfer that fragments the medical record. Locator systems that make detainees invisible to counsel and family. Solitary confinement undercounted because the reporting rules changed.
Category Three is much deeper than we know. A woman processed into Alternatives to Detention, fitted with an ankle monitor, found dead in Pittsburgh. A man who deteriorated into sepsis and encephalopathy in Texas custody, flown by ICE-funded air ambulance to Costa Rica in a profoundly incapacitated state, found dead. A six-year-old with leukemia arrested at a courthouse, transferred to Dilley. A thirteen-year-old girl who attempted suicide after her antidepressants were withheld. Spanish-language local reporting is surfacing family chronologies and records that contradict official narratives before the English-language press knows they exist.
The post-release review mechanism you flag has never been used. The oversight offices that might have tracked these cases shut down. The system is dismantling the tools which could be used to audit it. Keep at it. Let us know what we can do to support you. Thank you for this.
Tonight I am speaking to Bisbee City Council for the third why to not let ICE use city property at all for their deadly antics. Your post has been immensely useful! Thank you.