ICE detainee passes away at Kendall Regional Medical Center in Miami

MIAMI– A Cuban national in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) died Monday afternoon at the Kendall Regional Medical Center (KRMC) in Miami. The official cause of death has not yet been determined.

Luis Ramirez-Marcano, 59, was transported Feb. 17, to KRMC when ICE Health Service Corps (IHSC) medical personnel at the Krome Detention Center determined he should be taken to an emergency room for treatment after complaints of abdominal pain. Later that day, staff at KRMC admitted Ramirez-Marcano for further evaluation and treatment.

On Feb. 18, medical staff at KRMC informed ICE staff that Ramirez-Marcano was transferred to the intensive care unit where his condition continued to decline. Despite round-the-clock care, Ramirez-Marcano passed away the afternoon of Feb. 19.

Consistent with agency protocols, the appropriate state health and local law enforcement agencies have been notified about the death, as have the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility. Additionally, ICE has advised Cuban Embassy representatives.

ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive review of this incident, as it does in all such cases. 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. This agency’s comprehensive review will be conducted by ICE senior leadership to include: Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

Mr. Ramirez-Marcano had been in ICE custody since Jan. 12 pending his removal to Cuba.

Ramirez-Marcano is the third detainee to pass away in ICE custody in fiscal year 2018.