People with disabilities whose medication was withheld

Documented stories describe detained people with disabilities and chronic conditions—diabetes, HIV, cancer, epilepsy, hypertension—denied insulin, hormones, chemotherapy, or other medication at facilities including Adelanto, Otay Mesa, Eloy, and Florence Staging Facility, with some hospitalized, having strokes, or dying in custody. First documented February 2025, recurring monthly since, with a roughly steady share of reported cases over time. At the latest report, most affected people had been released, while others remained detained, were deported, or died.

“What good does it do to imagine a ‘happy place’? How absurd for a supposed medical professional to suggest that I could close my eyes, take deep breaths, and escape my reality when I am forced to survive here. When my reality is probably going end with my death in my home country. Sleeping pills won’t fix that.”