ICE ERASED JOSÉ’S DEATH FROM THE RECORD — TRUMP’S NEW POLICY LETS ICE HIDE DEATHS CONNECTED TO DETENTION

José Chajón-Raxón suffered a medical emergency inside Delaney Hall. ICE released him—and Trump’s policy removed his death from mandatory investigation and reporting.

The man ICE removed from its custody count: José Chajón-Raxón. Still: Kevin Ortega-Rojas.

José’s medical crisis began one day after ICE processed him into Delaney Hall. Medical workers transported him to University Hospital after a nurse witnessed seizure-like activity. ICE released José from custody on July 22, and he later died.

Rep. Rob Menendez brought José’s death into the public record after receiving conflicting information from ICE. DHS has not disclosed the exact date or cause of José’s death, but ICE controlled his confinement when he became critically ill, transferred him to a hospital and changed his custody status before his death.

The Trump administration created the policy opening that allowed ICE to abandon the case. In June, ICE eliminated a 2021 requirement to investigate and report deaths occurring within 30 days of release. The 2021 requirement kept those deaths inside ICE’s investigation and reporting obligations.

🎥 Kevin Ortega-Rojas explains how ICE used Trump’s 30-day reporting rollback to erase José’s death from the public record.

Under the revised policy, ICE no longer monitored, investigated or reported José’s death after releasing him from custody. His medical crisis remained connected to ICE detention, but changing his status removed his death from the agency’s reporting obligations and kept it outside the official custody count.

José is the third person known to have died after being held at Delaney Hall since the facility reopened. Jean Wilson Brutus died following a medical emergency in December, and Edwin Lopez-Cornejo died after another medical emergency in August. José’s case shows how the official count can conceal the full human cost when people who die after release disappear from ICE’s public record.

Under this policy, ICE can transfer a gravely ill person to a hospital, end that person’s custody status and stop monitoring whether they survive. ICE avoids another death in its custody count while GEO Group’s role in the confinement receives less public scrutiny. José remained an ICE responsibility after the agency changed his status, but ICE turned his “release” into an exit from accountability.

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ICE erased José from its count, but his family cannot erase the loss. They are left carrying the grief, unanswered questions and costs ICE abandoned.

Help José’s family carry the cost ICE left behind. Upgrade to paid and put direct support behind José’s family.