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Cuban national dies after diagnosis at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin

By Alva James-Johnson
The Rev. James H. Purks, III, speaks on May 27 at a vigil outside of the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., in response to the death of Jean Jimenez-Joseph who died in ICE custody. The event was organized by Georgia Detention Watch and concerned community members, including Marta Lopez, the girlfriend of Shaw High grad Jose Gonzalez Ochoa detained at the facility since mid-April. In the photo, Lopez holds a yellow placard.
The Rev. James H. Purks, III, speaks on May 27 at a vigil outside of the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., in response to the death of Jean Jimenez-Joseph who died in ICE custody. The event was organized by Georgia Detention Watch and concerned community members, including Marta Lopez, the girlfriend of Shaw High grad Jose Gonzalez Ochoa detained at the facility since mid-April. In the photo, Lopez holds a yellow placard. Special to the Ledger-Enquirer

A Cuban national in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement died Tuesday at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., according to a news release issued by the government agency.

Yulio Castro-Garrido, 33, was transported Jan. 7 to Southwest Regional Medical Center in Cuthbert, Ga., after being diagnosed with pneumonia by ICE Health Service Corps personnel at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga.

He was the second detainee to pass away in ICE custody in fiscal year 2018.

“After diagnosis, Mr. Castro initially resisted medical treatment which caused his condition to worsen,” the news release reads. “On Jan. 9, IHSC staff coordinated the transfer of Castro to the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (PPMH) in Albany, Ga. where he was placed on a ventilator to stabilize him.”

On Jan. 17, PPMH transported Castro-Garrido to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for additional treatment.

“Mr. Castro slipped into a coma Jan. 22 and never regained consciousness,” according to officials. “Consistent with agency protocols, next of kin and appropriate state health and local law enforcement agencies have been notified about the death, as have the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility. Additionally, ICE will also notify the Cuban Embassy in Washington, DC.”

Castro-Garrido entered ICE custody on Nov. 24, following his transfer from the D. Ray James Federal Correctional Institute in Folkston, Ga., according to the release. He was convicted Dec 8, 2016 of conspiracy to transport and move an undocumented alien within the United States by means of transportation and sentenced to a year and one day of confinement and three years of supervised probation.

On Jan. 4, an immigration judge ordered Castro-Garrido to be removed to Cuba, according to the news release, but he waived his right to appeal.

A comprehensive review will be conducted by ICE senior leadership regarding his death, the document continues.

“ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive review of this incident, as it does in all such cases,” it reads. “Fatalities in ICE custody, statistically, are exceedingly rare and occur at a fraction of the rate of the U.S. detained population as a whole.”

Alva James-Johnson: 706-571-8521, @amjreporter

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Cuban national dies after diagnosis at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin."

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