DocumentedNY: For One Man, Immigration Detention Nearly Meant Death

When Miguel Almonte was finally released from ICE detention and had emergency surgery to remove his gallstones, his doctor told him he was lucky to be alive. “If I would have stayed a little longer there, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Miguel Almonte technically never lost his green card, was on disability, and needed surgery while in ICE detention. Though gallstones prevented him from digesting food and caused excruciating pain, his requests for healthcare were repeatedly dismissed by jail staff.

“They knew. I had the humanitarian parole request pending for months, and it was denied…I was told that they knew he needed surgery,” says BxD attorney Conor Gleason.

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