A California family says their son died alone in a hospital miles from home after falling ill under ICE custody, sparking new outrage over medical care inside detention centers.
Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, came to the United States from Mexico when he was four years old. In August, immigration agents detained him at the Huntington Beach car wash where he had worked for 15 years. According to Sky News, he was held for five weeks at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County, a privately run facility that has long faced allegations of poor health standards.
While in custody, Ayala-Uribe complained of fever and a persistent cough, his mother, Lucia, said. He was treated by medical staff at the facility and given medication, but family members say his condition only worsened. “He said they weren’t listening to him,” Lucia recalled. “The last time I saw him, his face was drained. He told me he was not OK. He told me he couldn’t take it anymore.”
Ayala-Uribe was later transferred to a hospital for surgery to remove an abscess, but he never made it to the operating table. He was found unresponsive and pronounced dead before the procedure began. His family said they were never informed that he had been hospitalized. Instead, they learned of his death when police knocked on their door early one morning. “We were not even aware that he was in the hospital,” his brother, José Ayala, told reporters. “I believe he would still be alive today if he was never detained. He got sick while in detention, and they did not seem to take care of him.”
The circumstances surrounding his death have renewed scrutiny of conditions inside Adelanto, which is operated by the GEO Group under contract with ICE. The facility has been repeatedly criticized for poor sanitation, inadequate medical staffing, and lapses in emergency care. Advocacy groups say that overcrowding and staffing shortages have worsened under the Trump administration’s expanded detention policies.
Ayala-Uribe had once been protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which shields undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. His status was revoked in 2016 after a conviction for driving under the influence. Despite living in the U.S. for more than three decades, he was arrested by ICE agents this summer and placed in custody pending deportation proceedings.
According to his family, Ayala-Uribe was in good health before his arrest. His mother visited him every eight days and said he was visibly deteriorating each time. “He started with lots of fever,” she said through tears. “I feel powerless that I couldn’t do anything to help my son.”
ICE said in a statement that Ayala-Uribe was being treated for hypertension and a heart condition and that the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility is reviewing the case. Advocates for detainees, however, say the explanation is part of a familiar pattern — one where medical neglect and delayed care often end in tragedy.
For Lucia and José, no official statement will fill the silence left behind. “He lived his whole life here,” José said. “He never knew another home.”
