A Tale of Immigrant Detention: The Details of Johana Medina’s Detainment and Death Matter

The nation continues to hear disturbing news about immigrant detention in the United States.

Tina Vasquez for Rewire.News reports on the death of a 25-year-old trans woman from El Salvador who entered federal immigration custody on April 11 and died seven weeks later.  The story is The Details of Johana Medina’s Detainment and Death Matter.

Tina Vasquez argues that Medina’s treatment in custody and her death point to a pattern of systemic abuse by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against immigrants in its custody, and specifically against LGBTQ asylum seekers: “LGBTQ migrants in federal custody have long documented cases of abuse, mistreatment, and medical negligence.”

Vasquez also writes that ICE’s statement on Medina’s death “has been uncritically reported by news outlets nationwide” and that Medina’s is one of many preventable deaths that ICE refuses to acknowledge as “in-custody.”

You can read the full piece here.

KJ