Florida congresswomen demand answers after Haitian woman dies in ICE custody

Miami Herald

02-05-2025

Two Florida congresswomen who visited the Broward Transitional Center on Friday after a 44 year-old Haitian woman died in the custody of immigration authorities expressed concern over the lack of transparency at the detention center.
'When we tried to speak to the healthcare provider, the healthcare coordinator, we were met with more hostility and evasiveness from the healthcare facilitator,' U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick said during a press conference after touring the facility alongside U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson. 'We asked clear questions about their protocol for when you have someone who has heart pain or chest pain, and they refuse to give us complete and clear answers, which should be very clear.'
Marie Ange Blaise, who died April 25, had been held at the Broward Transitional Center – which is owned and operated for the federal government by the GEO Group – in Deerfield Beach since April 5. She was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection two months earlier and transferred to ICE facilities in Puerto Rico and New Orleans before her final transfer to the Broward facility.
When the Herald requested an autopsy report on Friday from the Broward Medical Examiner's office, an administrative coordinator emailed back that the case was under 'an active criminal investigation' and therefore 'exempt from public disclosure.' But about an hour later, after a reporter asked what agency was conducting the criminal investigation, the chief of Investigative Services for the office said the FBI had 'just released the hold that was on our case,' but that they had not completed the autopsy.
Cherfilus-McCormick, whose parents were born in Haiti and who represents areas of Broward and Palm Beach County, said the administration of the facility refused to confirm whether an electrocardiogram was conducted to assess why Blaise was experiencing chest pain.
'Why wasn't she sent to the hospital? We have so many questions we wanted to ask, but they refused to answer,' she said. 'Instead, they gave us a tour to show off how pretty the facility was — empty bedrooms, the chapel. But this is not about a facility being pretty. This is about how you are treating these women who are here, and everybody else who's here in this facility.'
The two representatives said they spoke to several detainees who were present when Blaise died, who said she had been complaining of chest pain for several days.
'They told us Blaise complained of chest pain regularly. They said that she got her pills at 8 a.m.' Cherfilus-McCormick said. 'One woman even said that she started complaining about chest pain after they gave her medication, and she was complaining of chest pain for quite a few days.'
A press release Wednesday from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Blaise 'was pronounced deceased by medical professionals at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Florida, April 25, at 8:35 p.m.'
According to Cherfilus-McCormick, the facility has only one doctor on call for over 500 detainees and they refused to specify how many other health care professionals staff the detention center. 'Clearly one doctor on call for this amount, over 500 people, is not enough,' she said.
ICE facilities are required to follow strict standards to ensure that detainees have access to appropriate medical, dental and mental health services, including emergency care. However, in Blaise's case, it remains unclear why, despite reportedly complaining of chest pain for several days, she was not taken to a hospital to evaluate the cause.
Cherfilus-McCormick called the living conditions in the transitional center 'inhumane.' She said said one woman told her that sometime in March the facility was so overcrowded that there were people sleeping on the floor, which she called 'very disturbing.'
'They are being denied adequate health care,' she said. 'When we asked about mental health care, they told us someone comes in and asks a few questions for about 15 minutes — but the reality of it wasn't there.'
She said she was told that inmates who cry too much are 'Baker Acted,' a reference to the Florida law that allows someone to be involuntarily placed in a mental health facility if they're believed to be mentally impaired.
'Marie Blaise's death wasn't an isolated incident,' she added.
Ramped up arrests
In the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's second term, the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration arrests nationwide, detaining more than 158,000 people, according to ICE data. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that in the span of six days, an immigration sweep described as the 'largest to date,' named Operation Tidal Wave, resulted in the arrest of more than 1,120 people across the state.
At Friday's press conference, Wilson, who represents areas of Miami-Dade County, highlighted that in 2012 the same Broward facility had other health care issues: a man who was urinating blood, and a woman who had major surgery and was returned to the facility on the same day. At the time, members of Congress signed a letter and later toured the facility, she said, to find out what was happening.
'Now it's the same private company that is running this facility. They are still here, and we are experiencing the same kind of trepidation that we experienced back in 2012,' she said..
Wilson said it's time for Congress and the Department of Homeland Security to terminate its contract with the private contractor.
Marie Ange Blaise had a 22-year-old son who lives in California, Wilson said.
Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, who also attended the press conference, called for minimum standards of safety and care for those held in ICE custody.
'Is it that, as immigrants, we are not human? Is it that we do not deserve the minimum when we are in custody?' she asked. 'How many more errors will it take for ICE to stop its cruel vendetta against immigrants?
Miami Herald staff writers Brittany Wallman and Jay Weaver contributed to this report.