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ICE and CoreCivic denied Stewart Detention Center detainee Prisciliano Trejo-Ricano medical care for eight days; he died of leukemia

Prisciliano Trejo-Ricano, a 29-year-old Mexican immigrant who had lived in the U.S. since childhood, was detained by ICE at the CoreCivic-run Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, after a June 2026 arrest in Durham, North Carolina. His family says he reported feeling unwell on July 6, 2026 and was not taken to a hospital until July 13 -- an eight-day delay -- after which he was diagnosed with acute leukemia, fell into a coma, and was released from ICE custody on July 16 as his condition deteriorated; he died on July 24. DHS disputes that his requests for care went unanswered, saying he received medical treatment on July 10.

Part of: 2025–2026 ICE Detainee Death Surge

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Lumpkin, Georgia

Abuses documented

Actors

On July 24, 2026, Prisciliano Trejo-Ricano, a 29-year-old Mexican national who had lived in the United States since he was three years old, died of complications from leukemia days after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released him from custody at the CoreCivic-run Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. Trejo-Ricano had been arrested by local police in Durham, North Carolina, on June 19, 2026 on DWI and hit-and-run charges and was transferred to ICE custody on June 25, then admitted to Stewart on June 27.

According to his family, Trejo-Ricano began reporting symptoms including coughing up blood around July 6 and asked repeatedly for medical care, but was not taken to a hospital until July 13 -- an eight-day delay advocates describe as neglect. He was diagnosed with acute leukemia after that hospital transfer, fell into a coma around July 15, and ICE released him to his family's custody on July 16 with an order of recognizance as his condition deteriorated. He died at the hospital on July 24. DHS disputed that his requests for care were ignored, saying he received medical screening at intake and was treated for a cough and sore throat on July 10, three days before his hospitalization; CoreCivic said its medical staff "immediately addressed" his concerns once raised.

Because ICE transferred custody to his family before he died, advocates including Detention Watch Network say his death may not be reflected in the agency's official custody-death count, a gap enabled by a June 2026 policy change that limits ICE's formal death-reporting obligations to people who die while still detained. Advocacy groups renewed calls for an independent investigation and for the closure of Stewart, which has recorded multiple prior detainee deaths.

Why we recorded this

Government accountability for a death in its custody should not depend on the timing of a release. ICE transferred Prisciliano Trejo-Ricano to his family's custody as he lay comatose from a leukemia diagnosis reached only after his family says he spent eight days asking for care, then classified his death eight days later as one that happened outside its custody. A June 2026 policy change limits ICE's formal death-reporting obligations to people who die while still detained, so his death may not appear in the agency's official count. This archive records it anyway, because an agency cannot narrow its own accountability by releasing someone shortly before they die.

Sources

  1. ICE detainee diagnosed with leukemia dies after transfer from detention — Newsweek primary accessed August 2, 2026
  2. Family: ICE denied care to Stewart detainee who died of leukemia — Now Georgia secondary accessed August 2, 2026
  3. Man with leukemia dies after weekslong stay in Georgia immigration detention center — WABE secondary accessed August 2, 2026
  4. ICE Accused of Neglect After Man, 29, in Its Custody Dies — The Daily Beast secondary accessed August 2, 2026

See also