ICE Schedules Deportation Flights for Ill Detainees to Africa

Flights carrying severely ill immigration detainees out of two south Florida jails to unidentified African countries are scheduled to depart as early as Wednesday, according to detainees' relatives and the advocacy group Workers Circle, which has been in contact with detainees inside the facilities, the Guardian reported.

Which detainees are affected and why?

Workers Circle said multiple detainees with varying medical conditions were pulled into interviews with deportation officers in recent days and told that Mexico would not accept their entry because of their health status, leaving Africa as the destination instead. "I received a call from several detainees letting me know that men were being pulled in to interviews with deportation agents, where they were being informed that because of their medical conditions, Mexico would not be accepting their entry, and they will be sent to Africa," Arianne Betancourt, the group's immigrant rights organizer, said at a Tuesday night press conference, according to the Guardian.

Which ICE facilities are involved?

The detainees in question are held at the Krome North processing center in Miami, the subject of a government inspector's report last month documenting severe overcrowding, and a second south Florida ICE facility, the Guardian reported.

What does the government say?

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson disputed the account in a statement to the Guardian late Wednesday, calling it "a false story designed to smear the brave men and women of ICE as they are facing a more than 1,600% increase in assaults against them." The spokesperson added: "No sick detainees are being deported. All detainees are medically cleared before travel and leave with any necessary medications."

That 1,600% figure, cited by DHS as context for the agency's current operating environment, was not independently broken out by time period or incident count in the statement provided to the Guardian.

What do advocates say is missing?

Betancourt told the Tuesday briefing that detainees sent to third countries typically lose access to consistent care. "We know that once they are deported and sent to these third countries, they are not receiving medical care in detention. They have difficulties getting medicine," she said, according to the Guardian's account. The group said it learned of the planned flights only in the preceding days, leaving families and detainees little notice before departure.

By the numbers

• 1,600%: the increase in assaults against ICE personnel cited by DHS in its statement defending the agency's operations.
• 2: the number of south Florida ICE facilities — including Krome North — where families and Workers Circle say sick detainees are being processed for removal.
• 1 day: the lead time families say they were given before flights to African countries were scheduled to begin, as early as Wednesday.

What happens next?

The dispute turns on two irreconcilable claims: DHS says every detainee is "medically cleared before travel" and departs with needed medications, while Workers Circle says detainees sent to third countries lose reliable access to care once they land. Neither the Guardian's reporting nor the DHS statement names the African countries involved or specifies how many detainees are on the Wednesday flight manifest. Families and the advocacy group said they are continuing to seek details on destinations and medical arrangements as departures proceed.