Second Immigrant Dies In ICE Custody In Georgia

ATLANTA, GA -- Over the course of a few days, Georgia has had two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees die, Patch has learned. On Tuesday, an Indian national being held by ICE officials in Atlanta had to be rushed to a local hospital, where he died.

Atulkumar Babubhai Patel, 58, was pronounced dead at Grady Memorial Hospital at 1:20 p.m., ICE said this week in a news release. A preliminary investigation reveals that Patel died after complications from congestive heart failure, federal officials said. SIGN UP: To get notified of more local news like this, click here to sign up for the Atlanta Patch. Or find your Atlanta-area town here. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.

An investigation continues into the death of a Panamanian national who was found dead in his cell while being detained by immigration officials in Stewart County in South Georgia.

When detainment officers checked on Jean Jimenez-Joseph, 27, who was in solitary confinement, they found him with a sheet around his neck at 12:45 a.m. Monday in the Stewart Detention Center, ICE said in a news release. Jimenez-Joseph, who had been isolated for 19 days, could not be revived.

Read more: ICE Raids in Atlanta Confirmed: Were They in Brookhaven?

Patel arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on May 10 aboard a flight from Quito, Ecuador. He did not have the required immigration documents, according to ICE, so he was placed in the federal agency’s custody at the Atlanta City Detention Center. He received a medical screening there and was found to have high blood pressure and diabetes, according to ICE. On Saturday, a nurse checking his blood sugar noticed he was short of breath, so he was transported to Grady, where he later died.

Patel arrived at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport May 10 aboard a flight from Quito, Equador, federal officials said. Because he didn't have the necessary immigration documents, U.S. Customs and Border Protection denied him entry into the country.

A day later, Customs officials transferred Patel into ICE custody at the Atlanta City Detention Center. During an initial medical screening, he was identified to have high blood pressure and diabetes. On Saturday, while still in ICE custody, a nurse noticed Patel was experiencing shortness of breath while doing a routine blood sugar check. He was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he later died, ICE said.

Read more: Atlanta Mexican Consulate Speaks Out On ICE Arrests

Federal officials said that all the appropriate state health and local law enforcement agencies were informed of Patel's death, per protocol and ICE has advised Indian consular representatives, who have notified Patel’s next of kin.

"ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases," the agency said in a news release. "Fatalities in ICE custody, statistically, are exceedingly rare and occur at a fraction of the rate of the U.S. detained population as a whole."

The fatalities come the same week that ICE announced that arrests of undocumented immigrants have jumped nearly 40 percent since President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ramp up immigration enforcement.

ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan said the increases "reflect President Trump’s commitment to enforce our immigration laws fairly and across the board. ICE agents and officers have been given clear direction to focus on threats to public safety and national security, which has resulted in a substantial increase in the arrest of convicted criminal aliens."

He added, "However, when we encounter others who are in the country unlawfully, we will execute our sworn duty and enforce the law. As the data demonstrates, ICE continues to execute our mission professionally and in accordance with the law, and our communities will be much safer for it.”

In the 100 days since Trump signed the executive orders, ICE officers have arrested more than 41,000 people suspected of being undocumented immigrants.

Image via ICE