Died in immigration detentionHeld by ICE
Nebane Abienwi
Nebane Abienwi, a 37-year-old man who had recently fled war-torn Cameroon, was taken into ICE custody after arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border in September 2019. He was held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California, and about a week after his arrival he suffered a brain hemorrhage and was taken to a nearby hospital. He died there on October 1, 2019; hospital staff gave the cause as brain death secondary to a basal ganglia hemorrhage, and ICE listed the same cause. Immigrant rights groups planned a vigil in his memory outside ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness
Reported by: hospital staff; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (the agency that held him).