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Rolando Meza Espinoza is the 10th person to die after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since October. A Honduran national, Meza Espinoza was arrested by ICE in April at his Long Island construction job.
While in jail, Meza Espinoza's health diminished rapidly. Suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, anemia, and diabetes, Meza Espinoza was reportedly only being treated for his diabetes, despite asking nurses for additional medication. He died in custody after being transferred from the Hudson County Correctional Facility in New Jersey to the Jersey City Medical Center's intensive care unit.
Related: Navigating The 'Sick' and 'Horrific' Conditions in Family Detention Centers
Many questions surround Meza Espinoza's death. His lawyer maintains that his detention was a case of mistaken identity, and his family wasn't notified until two days after his death. The Takeaway reached out to ICE and to the Hudson County Correctional Facility, but our requests for comment went unanswered.
How was this allowed to happen? And how does it fit into the Trump Administration's accelerated crackdown of undocumented immigrants in the United States? Here to talk about the specifics of the program that grants ICE broad powers in detaining immigrants living in the country without papers is Betsy Plum, vice president of policy at the New York Immigration Coalition.
This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich.
