Another Person Has Been Medically Neglected to Death in ICE Custody. He Was 29 Years Old. Rest in Peace, Prisciliano Trejo Ricano.

07.31.2026

The machinery of immigration detention has claimed another life.

Prisciliano Trejo Ricano was only 29 years old. He had lived in Durham, North Carolina, since he was a three-year-old child. Yet, after being detained and transferred into federal custody, he spent his final weeks pleading for medical help that never came.

By the time detention officials finally transported him to a hospital, it was too late. Trejo Ricano died in late July after suffering from aggressive leukemia—becoming the 50th person whose death in ICE custody has been made public so far this year.

The Timeline of Neglect at Stewart Detention Center

Trejo Ricano’s death follows a grim, familiar pattern inside for-profit and remote detention facilities, where medical complaints are frequently ignored until they become irreversible emergencies:

• Arrest and Removal from Home: Trejo Ricano was arrested on June 19 in the Durham area. Despite having lived in North Carolina nearly his entire life, he was transferred out of state to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.

• Ignored Symptoms and Cries for Help: During the three weeks he was held at Stewart, he became increasingly sick and made daily calls and video chats to his family for support. He repeatedly reported that he was experiencing severe symptoms but was not receiving medical attention from facility staff.

• Pleas to Family: According to his father, Trejo Ricano confided in his younger brother that his throat was in severe pain and that no one at the facility would take him to a clinic to be examined.

• A Fatal Delay: Two days after Trejo Ricano was finally admitted to a hospital, his attorney called his family with devastating news: he had fallen into a coma caused by aggressive leukemia. When his father arrived at the hospital, he found his son unresponsive and intubated.

50 Deaths and Counting: A Systemic Crisis

What happened to Prisciliano Trejo Ricano is not an isolated tragedy—it is part of a mounting humanitarian crisis inside the U.S. detention network.

So far this year, at least 50 immigrants have died in ICE custody. Watchdog reports, investigative journalists, and grieving families have continually pointed to chronic medical understaffing, delayed emergency transfers, and systemic indifference as driving factors behind these preventable deaths.

In the wake of his son’s death, Trejo Ricano’s father is publicly demanding formal answers and official documentation of what occurred inside the detention center.

“I know that no one is going to bring my son back to me,” his father said, “but at least let this not keep happening.”

Primary Sources & Further Reading:

• Enlace Latino NC Investigation: A young Mexican man living in Durham died in ICE custody

  https://enlacelatinonc.org/en/Young-Mexican-man-living-in-Durham-died-in-ICE-custody/

• INDY Week Coverage: Mexican Man From Durham Dies From Leukemia While In ICE Custody

  https://indyweek.com/news/prisciliano-trejo-ricano-death-ice-custody/

Video Reporting & Testimony:

• Father’s Public Testimony (Spanish Language News Report): Padre de migrante fallecido bajo custodia de ICE denuncia falta de atención médica

• (In this broadcast report, Trejo Ricano’s father details his son’s ignored requests for a clinical exam at Stewart Detention Center and demands accountability for his death.)

• Watchdog Report on Systemic Detention Conditions: New report describes conditions inside ICE’s largest detention center