ICE’s violence doesn’t stop at the moment of arrest; it simply disappears from public view and continues inside ICE prisons, or in our client Julio's case - continues while he was handcuffed to a hospital bed. Julio was returning home after his regular dialysis appointment when ICE agents surrounded him and pulled him to the ground. Our legal team was alerted and Managing Attorney Viridiana Chabolla immediately went to visit him in the DTLA ICE prison where he was held in a basement and denied medically appropriate diet. His family - all U.S. citizens including his eldest son who is a military serviceperson - came immediately to meet Viridiana and advocate for his immediate release. ICE agents refused to release him, despite the fact that he needs dialysis several times a week to manage his end-stage kidney failure. Julio feared he would die in immigration custody.

Julio was taken to Adelanto ICE prison where his health plummeted from the inhumane conditions, and he was admitted to a hospital where he remained under 24/7 ICE surveillance for weeks. Neither ICE nor the hospital provided any information about his condition or location, leaving his attorney and family completely in the dark. Julio was stuck in a legal black hole; a reality countless detained immigrants face when they experience medical crises or suffer violent arrests that require urgent care. After repeated attempts to file paperwork for his release, Viridiana finally received a call from �ICE saying he would be released from custody. But after Julio's family drove three hours to the hospital - he was anything but free. Instead he lay there shackled, unconscious, and fighting for his life. ICE and the hospital never told his family or lawyer that he had a severe stroke and was intubated. �After he was well enough to be released from the hospital, Julio returned home, but continues to struggle with his health �while Viridiana continues to advocate for his right to remain with his family as his immigration case moves forward.

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