Second ICE detainee dies of COVID-19 complications at Columbus hospital, agency says
A 70-year-old Costa Rican man in federal immigration custody died Monday evening in a Columbus hospital due to complications from the novel coronavirus, U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) announced Wednesday.
Jose Guillen-Vega was pronounced dead at Piedmont Columbus Regional where he had been hospitalized since Aug. 1. Hospital staff determined Guillen-Vega’s preliminary cause of death was “cardiopulmonary arrest, secondary to complications of coronavirus disease (COVID-19),” according to the agency.
Stewart County Coroner Sybil Ammons told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Guillen-Vega also suffered from diabetes and hypertension.
Guillen-Vega came to the United States in 1999 on a nonimmigrant visa. His visa expired June 15, 2000, but he remained in the country. In March 2001, Guillen-Vega was convicted in North Carolina of statutory rape and indecent liberties with a child. He was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison, the agency said.
Federal immigration authorities took Guillen-Vega into custody on July 10, 2020, following his release from a North Carolina prison. He was ordered to leave the country, and federal officials transferred him to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, on July 15. He was awaiting deportation at the time of his death, ICE officials said.
“ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases,” the agency said in a statement regarding Guillen-Vega’s death.
Azadeh Shahshahani, legal and advocacy director for Atlanta-based social justice nonprofit Project South, said in a statement that Guillen-Vega’s death was preventable.
“This was an awful and preventable tragedy,” she said. “There is no reason that a 70-year-old should have been held at a deadly facility in the midst of a pandemic. How many more tragedies at Stewart before people are released and the government shuts down this horrendous facility?”
Guillen-Vega is the second confirmed coronavirus death at the Stewart Detention Center, according to ICE data. The first was 34-year-old Santiago Baten-Oxlaj of Guatemala, who died in May. The Stewart Detention Center is privately-run by CoreCivic and is one of the largest facilities in the nation.
As of Aug. 11, a total of 154 detainees at Stewart Detention Center had tested positive for COVID-19. Of those, 21 are currently being isolated or monitored, according to agency data.
CoreCivic has had 79 of its employees who work at the facility test positive for the disease. Of those, 64 had recovered and been medically cleared to return to work. The rest are recovering at home.
“At CoreCivic, we’re working closely with our partners at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ensure the health and safety of everyone at the Stewart Detention Center,” said spokesperson Ryan Gustin in an email statement. “Any of our employees that have not yet returned to work are recovering at home and are in regular communication with their healthcare providers.”
Nationwide, 4,462 detainees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. That represents almost 20% of those who had been tested. Some detainees who previously tested positive may no longer be in ICE custody. Five detainees have died after testing positive for the disease, according to agency data.
As of Aug. 12, Stewart County ranked third for the total number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, according to data from the Georgia Department of Public Health. A total of 256 coronavirus cases and 7 deaths have been confirmed.
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 12:28 PM.