OMG. ICE just announced another death in custody: Anthony Akinyemi, 56, from Nigeria was pronounced dead @ 5:23 a.m. on Dec 21 "after he was found unresponsive in his cell" in Dorchester county jail. Preliminary cause of death: self-inflicted strangulation ice.gov/news/releases/…
Conditions in ICE custody are so awful and unbearable that ppl are often suicidal after spending just few weeks. Combine that with the utter lack of mental health services, it is a miracle the death toll is not 10 fold higher.
People unfamiliar w the brutal immigration system in effect do not understand that we are detaining people who know that they cannot return back to their country of origins regardless of what IJ has ruled. Faced w imminent deportation to face torture they feel at end of the road
Detained clients survive ICE detention because they keep Hope alive. When hope is gone it is like the light gets turned off. I have seen that twice in 19 years of practice. It is the most awful thing I had to face. I am crying as I write this.
Fortunately, both times we were able to get Mental Health professionals to intervene and prevent what were sure suicides. But this was in what feel a different era. I doubt I can even get an officer attention these days.
Holiday season is particularly difficult time for incarcerated people and their families. If you know someone in such situation, please reach out and check on them. Don't leave them feeling alone & hopeless
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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-8255
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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-8255
This is (I think) the 3rd death in ICE custody in FY2020!!!! In October a Cuban asylum seeker Roylan Hernandez-Diaz committed suicide in ICE jail in Louisiana. Per reports he had participated in a hunger strike to protest the conditions of his detention. How many ppl have to die?
UPDATE: you not gonna believe this but apparently on the SAME day, 21 December, there was another suicide in DHS custody. Mexican national was apprehended the day B4, processes for expedited removal at Hildalgo & handed for criminal prosecution 4 false ... cbp.gov/newsroom/speec…
... claim to US citizenship. This is unreal!!!!
#EndDetention
#EndDetention
