Two South Florida representatives toured U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Pompano Beach where a woman from Haiti died a week ago.
On Friday, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Rep. Frederica Wilson visited the Broward Transitional Center to investigate the conditions of the facility and learn more about the circumstances surrounding the death of Marie Ange Blaise.
The 44-year-old died at the facility on Friday. April 25. The cause of death is under investigation, but she had been complaining of chest pains.
Speaking on the House floor on April 30, Cherfilus-McCormick suggested that the facility did not provide Blaise with adequate medical care. She said Blaise had complained of chest pains for hours, and the staff gave her some pills and told her to go lie down. The congresswoman said she never woke up.
In response, ICE said that at no time was Blaise denied “emergent care.” The agency stated that all detainees receive comprehensive medical care throughout their custody, including 24-hour emergency services.
After the tour, the lawmakers said many questions they had went unanswered and some answers were distressing.
Cherfilus-McCormick said they were told there is only one doctor on call for about the 500 people who are held there.
“Clearly one doctor on call for this amount, over 500 people, is not enough. In addition, when we talked to people who were there, they told us she complained of heart pains, or chest pains, several times and that she was seen by the doctor. In fact, that morning she got her prescription at 8 a.m. and then she died at 8:34 a.m.,” she said.
The congresswomen noted it is a privately run facility operating as an ICE holding center.
Wilson said it’s time for Congress and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to pull that contract.
Moved through multiple ICE facilities before her death
Blaise had entered the U.S. without admission or parole on an unspecified date, authorities said.
On Feb. 12, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered her at the Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, where she was attempting to board a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina.
That same day, CBP issued her a Notice of Expedited Removal, citing her lack of a valid immigrant visa. She was transferred to ICE custody two days later, first at a staging facility in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was later moved to Richwood Correctional Center in Oakdale, Louisiana, and finally to the Broward Transitional Center on April 5.
