SF Chronicle: Sen. Padilla opens inquiry into condition of ill refugee at California’s largest ICE detention center
By Ko Lyn Cheang
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla opened a congressional inquiry into gaps in the medical care of an Eritrean refugee held at California’s largest immigration detention center last week after learning about the situation in a Chronicle report.
A congressional inquiry is a formal request for information made by a Congress member on behalf of their constituent to a federal agency.
Senait Kifle, an Oakland resident, first raised the alarm to the Chronicle about her intellectually disabled 48-year-old younger brother after visiting him on April 6 at California City Detention Facility in Kern County.
While in detention, Yebio Kifle, who suffers from congestive heart failure, had deteriorated to the point of needing a wheelchair and suffered jaundice, swollen legs and was unable to urinate.
“They’re waiting for him to die,” she said at the time, referring to the detention facility staff. Two medical doctors who reviewed Yebio Kifle’s medical records at the Chronicle’s request and with the family’s permission said he was not receiving proper care for his chronic disease and could die if not treated soon.
Kifle’s case exemplifies problems that many detainees and their attorneys have raised about both ICE detention facilities and California City Detention Facility, which opened in August and holds almost 1,800 people daily on average, according to ICE data processed by the data platform Detention Reports.
A recent Chronicle investigation found medical delays and misdiagnoses have driven record deaths in ICE detention centers across the country.
California City Detention Facility was the subject of a November class action lawsuit filed by detainees alleging lack of medical care for life-threatening conditions. U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney ruled in favor of the detainees in February, finding they were “suffering irreparable harm” from medical care deprivation and ordering an independent medical monitor to conduct an investigation.
The monitor, Dr. Muthusamy Anandkumar, is currently reviewing medical records and will soon make an inspection visit to the center before producing a public report in July with his recommendations.
ICE spokesperson Jason Sweeney and Brian Todd, a spokesperson for CoreCivic, which runs the private facility, declined to comment on Kifle’s case, citing medical privacy, but said detainees have access to a “continuum of health care services” and medical staff who “meet the highest standards of care.”
“Being in detention is a choice,” Sweeney said, adding that detainees can “self-deport.”
Tess Borden, a Prison Law Office attorney serving as class counsel for people detained at California City, said the monitor’s work is critical and she hoped it would prompt ICE to make immediate improvements.
“Unfortunately, our clients and their loved ones continue to report extreme failures in medical care at California City,” Borden said.
Padilla is one of several California lawmakers who’ve made oversight visits to California City Detention Facility. After his January visit, Padilla said detained individuals were facing “inhumane conditions” and alleged that the facility violated “basic standards for access to health care, food, water, and legal counsel.”
“ICE and CBP continue to detain immigrants with no criminal record, all while wasting billions in taxpayer funds and doing little to increase public safety,” Padilla said.
Yebio Kifle’s sister said his condition has gotten worse since the early April visit. When she drove six hours to the Mojave Desert again on April 22 to see him, she said, his cheeks were so swollen he could hardly speak and he was bleeding inside his mouth.
Kifle said she was grateful to Padilla’s office for looking into the situation. She had been preparing herself for the “worst scenario.”
“I was about to just give up,” she said.
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