FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A grieving son reported that his suffering mother told him that she had been denied medical attention while at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Broward Transitional Center, records show.
A Broward County Sheriff’s Office detective reported that an ICE detainee at the BTC said Marie Ange Blaise “was complaining of chest discomfort” at about 2 p.m., on April 25, records about the investigation show.
Blaise’s son reported he talked to his mother over the phone at 5:54 p.m., and she was “having chest pains and abdominal cramps” when staff “refused” to help her to see a physician, records show
A BSO deputy reported that three other detainees said that before Blaise collapsed at about 8:35 p.m., in cell 311, she “looked different, she seemed off, and even moved aggressively towards one of the detainees, but then stopped,” records show.
Dr. Yanel De Los Santos, a forensics pathologist with the Broward County Medical Examiner’s office, performed an autopsy on April 26 and concluded Blaise had died of cardiovascular disease.
ICE announced Blaise’s death on April 29 and reported that it happened at the transitional center that she had been in since April 5. Records show her federal detention over a U.S. Visa violation started with a hospital visit on Feb. 12.
ICE records show U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained Blaise at the Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport in Saint Croix, U.S Virgin Islands, and escorted her to Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center in Saint Croix, where she was treated for “elevated blood pressure.”
CBP met Blaise, who was born in Haiti, when she was getting ready to board a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, and after she was treated at the hospital surrendered her custody to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Miami on Feb. 14, records show.
ICE ERO held Blaise at facilities in San Juan, Miami, and New Orleans before she underwent a medical intake screening at the Richwood Correctional Center in Oakdale, Louisiana, on Feb. 21, records show.
ICE records show Blaise continued to experience high blood pressure before lab results revealed decreased kidney function, and she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease on March 5 and was dealing with “recurring swollen tonsils and itchy eyes” on April 1.
The ICE records also showed alleged instances when Blaise had denied to take the medication that was prescribed and provided to treat her while in detention.
De Los Santos described the cardiovascular disease Blaise was suffering was related to high blood pressure and atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaque in and on the artery walls, records show.
Reps. Frederica Wilson and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick visited the Broward Transitional Center on May 2 and demanded an investigation into the condition that Blaise endured while in ICE detention.
“One single doctor to care for hundreds of detainees — with some being forced to sleep on the floor — is inhumane," Cherfilus-McCormick said during a joint news conference.
Wilson said it was time to end the federal government contracts with the GEO Group, a contractor running ICE processing centers.
Local 10 News Assignment Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.
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