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A Mexican man from Durham died last month after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia while in ICE custody, where he said immigration officers failed to treat him despite serious symptoms.
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Prisciliano Trejo Ricano, 29, had been in custody at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia for about two weeks when he began throwing up blood and experiencing migraines, a sore throat and severe pain.
He died on July 24 — less than a month after his symptoms began and two weeks after his 29th birthday.
“Here you are treated like a number or like a placeholder,” Trejo Ricano wrote in a Facebook post on July 12. “For the next batch of people who come and go. This week I’ve been dealing with a bad sore throat coughing blood in the morning and night and really bad migraines, and have yet to be treated or provided any medicine. Not to say I’m not holding on strong.”
The Department of Homeland Security has denied that immigration officers neglected Trejo Ricano, saying they provided him with treatment as soon as he reported his symptoms.
Trejo Ricano had resided in the U.S. since he was 3 years old, according to his family, when his parents immigrated from Mexico. He graduated from Northern High School in Durham in 2015, according to his Facebook profile.
Family members described him as a “confident, funny, and outgoing person” who liked staying active and “dominated a room with jokes.”
On June 19, Trejo Ricano was arrested by Durham police on charges of driving while impaired, hit-and-run leaving a scene with property damage, driving without a license and driving the wrong way on a one-way street, a spokesperson for the Durham County Sheriff’s Office told The News & Observer.
Upon his arrest, a Durham judge ordered him held on a detainer request from ICE, according to the spokesperson, and he was released into their custody on June 25.
Trejo Ricano spent the next several weeks in ICE custody, traveling to the Georgia detention center where his physical condition began to decline in early July.
“This is Truely the worst feeling of my life,” Trejo Ricano wrote on Facebook. “I pray for people in this situation because it not easy. Most of these people aren’t even criminals. Their either working or coming home from work when captured. But these same people are making it a little easier in here because we all know we are going through the same situation.”
Trejo Ricano would call his family daily for emotional support, expressing “high levels of stress, depression, and physical illness” as his symptoms worsened, members of his family wrote on Gofundme.
But the Department of Homeland Security spokesperson rejected claims that Trejo Ricano was denied care, writing that he received treatment after complaining of a cough and sore throat and tested negative for strep. He also later received a saline IV, Amoxicillin, Ibuprofen, and Tylenol before being admitted to the hospital, the spokesperson wrote.
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The spokesperson said Trejo Ricano received a medical screening upon his arrival in the detention center and didn’t report any illness, the spokesperson said.
“It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody,” the spokesperson wrote. “This includes medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care.”
On July 16, Trejo Ricano was transferred to the ICU in a hospital in Georgia, his family wrote on Gofundme. His family — who drove over four hours to be at his bedside — were initially unable to see him as Trejo Ricano was still in ICE’s custody. A lawyer for Trejo Ricano was ultimately able to obtain an order of recognizance — allowing him to be released from custody, his family said.
Soon after, Trejo Ricano was diagnosed with acute leukemia — a rapid cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Doctors intubated him and continued to treat him, as his family said he remained restrained to his bed.
He died on July 24.
“It’s difficult seeing someone who rarely got sick and was fairly healthy now be intubated, connected to IV meds, and restrained to a bed as he tries to fight for his life,” his family wrote.
A Gofundme that was initially set up to help fund Trejo Ricano’s recovery had raised nearly $26,000 as of Wednesday morning, which will now be used for funeral arrangements and outstanding medical bills.
In his Facebook post from the detention center in July, Trejo Ricano thanked his friends and family for their support, saying he was hopeful for returning to his family despite the days he felt “powerless.”
“Protect your loved ones,” he wrote. “Im currently fighting my case and run into some not so great news. But im not discouraged.”
ICE officers reportedly arrested 43,138 people in June and 51,000 people in July — setting new highs for immigration arrests made both during President Donald Trump’s second term and in DHS history.
And as arrests have surged, deaths in ICE custody have also climbed, with 52 people dying in custody within the first 500 days of Trump’s second term — the highest rate in more than a decade.
In June, ICE said it would no longer report the detainees who die after being released from custody, meaning ICE is no longer responsible for monitoring or reviewing deaths that occur outside of detention — including in hospitals.
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This story was originally published August 5, 2026 at 10:27 AM.