Jayapal Calls on DHS to Provide Answers on Death in Custody

SEATTLE, WA – U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, is calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to provide answers to the discrepancies in the immediate reports of the death of a detained immigrant in Yuma, Arizona. From initial information provided by Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), some welfare checks that had been logged never actually occurred, and others could not be verified.

“Any death is a tragedy, and it is very concerning that it appears CBP protocols were not followed in this case,” wrote Jayapal. “Border Patrol’s detention logs note there were four different welfare checks or meals provided to the woman, however, Border Patrol later admitted to CBP OPR that they ‘did not conduct the welfare checks documented in the detention logs.’ It is imperative that you not only conduct an investigation into this incident but also examine this issue more broadly.”

According to CBP OPR, the woman was taken into custody in California after it was determined that she had overstayed a B1/B2 visitor visa. Agents transferred her to Arizona, where she was detained. CBP OPR confirmed that camera footage showed the woman creating a noose and tying it around her neck, yet no medical response occurred for over an hour, raising serious questions over whether CBP personnel are following their own policies and protocols. 

Jayapal has been a leader in the effort to end the use of private, for-profit detention centers and to instead substantially reduce reliance on detention and use humane community-based alternatives to detention. She has led calls to DHS to urge the closure of facilities with records of abuse and has also worked to push accountability and transparency at these facilities. She has also conducted significant oversight over the Northwest Detention Center in Washington State.

Jayapal is the sponsor of the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, transformative legislation that would overhaul the immigration detention system by ending the use of for-profit, private detention facilities, repealing mandatory detention, and protecting the civil and human rights of immigrants.

Jayapal originally raised the alarm on this death immediately following the report from DHS.

The full text of the letter can be read here.