Ismael Ayala-Uribe’s death inside a California immigration detention center has sparked renewed scrutiny of medical care and oversight in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, raising difficult questions about detainee welfare and the nation’s approach to immigration enforcement.
Ayala-Uribe, a 39-year-old former Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, was pronounced dead in the early hours of Monday, September 22, 2025, at Victor Valley Global Medical Center in Victorville, California. According to ICE statements cited by multiple outlets, including The Los Angeles Times and ABC News, he had been transferred to the hospital the previous day from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center to undergo surgery for an abscess on his buttock. Despite life-saving efforts, he was declared unresponsive at 1:48 a.m. and pronounced dead at 2:32 a.m.
The official cause of death remains under investigation. ICE officials have stated that Ayala-Uribe also suffered from hypertension and tachycardia—an abnormally fast heart rate—conditions that may have complicated his rapid decline. His family, however, described him as having high blood pressure but otherwise being in good health prior to his detention.
Ayala-Uribe’s journey to this tragic end began decades earlier. He entered the United States as a young child, though the exact date and location remain unclear. In 2012, he was granted DACA protection, a policy that shields certain immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. However, his renewal application was denied in 2016 following a conviction for driving under the influence (DUI). Court records show he received a second DUI conviction in 2019, resulting in a 120-day jail sentence and five years of probation.
On August 17, 2025, Ayala-Uribe was arrested by Border Patrol agents during a raid at the Fountain Valley Auto Wash, where he had worked for about 15 years. He was transferred to the Adelanto facility on August 22. There, his health quickly deteriorated. Within two weeks, he began complaining of a cough and fever. By Thursday, September 18, his symptoms had worsened—he was shaking and in pain. According to internal emails obtained by The Los Angeles Times, a staff member flagged his condition as potentially life-threatening, initiating a code blue medical emergency at 2:06 p.m. He was rushed in a wheelchair to the detention medical center. Yet, after about an hour and a half, medical staff cleared him to return to his dormitory at 3:45 p.m.
Despite his deteriorating condition, Ayala-Uribe was not hospitalized or scheduled for surgery until three days later, on September 21. ICE’s news release indicated that an on-call medical provider had examined him and prescribed medication on September 18, but his family and advocates argue that this response was insufficient. His brother, Jose, recounted to The Los Angeles Times, “It started small with the cough, and then he started getting fevers. They only were giving him, like, Tylenol and really, nothing else.” Jose added, “He’s tried asking for help, but they wouldn’t really do anything.”
Ayala-Uribe’s parents visited him at Adelanto on Saturday, September 20. “He was telling them that he was sick, he wasn’t feeling well,” Jose said. The family’s anxiety grew as they received scant updates from ICE, learning only that he had been moved to the infirmary. The next news came when Huntington Beach police officers arrived at their Westminster home to inform them of Ismael’s death.
The circumstances surrounding Ayala-Uribe’s death have reignited debate over the adequacy of medical care in ICE facilities, particularly at Adelanto, one of the largest detention centers in California. The facility is operated by the for-profit GEO Group, which declined to comment when contacted by The Los Angeles Times, instead referring inquiries to ICE. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, asserted in a statement that “comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay,” emphasizing that “at no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergent care.”
However, some staff members and advocates challenge these assertions. One Adelanto staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested that the influx of detainees—surging from about 300 at the end of April 2025 to more than 1,200 by September—had strained resources. While more staff had been hired, the staffer noted that “some of the new hires lacked experience—a factor that could have played a role in Ayala-Uribe’s death.” The staffer added, “A detainee with an abscess is normally taken to the hospital right away. So I don’t know why they didn’t go to the hospital.”
Ayala-Uribe’s death is not an isolated incident. He became the 14th person to die in federal immigration custody since January 2025, according to federal records reviewed by ABC News. That figure outpaces the 11 deaths reported in all of 2024 and is part of a disturbing trend as immigration enforcement has intensified in recent years. The spike in deaths and reports of inadequate care have drawn concern from lawmakers and advocacy groups alike.
In July, Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia released a probe into human rights violations at immigration detention centers, citing dozens of reports of physical and sexual abuse, as well as mistreatment of pregnant women and children. The Department of Homeland Security rejected the senator’s allegations, but the scrutiny continues. In June, Representative Judy Chu of California toured the Adelanto facility with other lawmakers, where detainees reported being denied basics like clean clothes and access to phones to contact loved ones or lawyers.
The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, a group representing more than 35 organizations, called for a full, independent report into Ayala-Uribe’s death. In a statement, the coalition said, “This for-profit detention center has a long record of abuse, neglect, and inadequate medical care leading to preventable suffering and deaths. No one should profit from immigrant incarceration, and no family should endure loss due to neglect.”
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department also expressed condolences to Ayala-Uribe’s family and stated that the Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino would follow up with U.S. authorities to ensure a thorough investigation. The department reiterated its commitment “to protect and defend the human rights of Mexicans abroad.”
Under congressional requirements, ICE is mandated to publicly release reports on in-custody deaths within 90 days. The agency stated that it had notified the Department of Homeland Security, the Mexican Consulate, Congress, and the media following Ayala-Uribe’s death, in accordance with policy.
For Ayala-Uribe’s family, the loss is devastating. “I’m angry, sad,” Jose told The Los Angeles Times. “My parents are pretty much broken.” To cover funeral costs, the family plans to sell tamales, carnitas, and pozole on Saturday, September 27, a small act of resilience in the face of overwhelming grief.
As investigations proceed and calls for accountability grow, Ayala-Uribe’s story stands as a somber reminder of the complex, often perilous realities faced by immigrants in U.S. detention—and the urgent need for transparency and reform in the system that holds them.
