‘Heartbreaking and entirely preventable’: Chicago-area man dies after deportation, family attorney says

A Chicago area-man, who had no criminal record and suffered from multiple chronic health conditions, died shortly after a deportation flight to Pakistan, his lawyer says.

Sixty-one-year-old Ayaz Ahmed of Morton Grove was arrested in June by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and faced deportation for having an expired visa, said his attorney Hashim Siddique. Siddique said Ahmed’s family hired him to expedite his deportation because they feared his health would deteriorate in custody.

Ahmed needed a breathing device, nasal spray and medication for chronic conditions, according to Siddique, who also mentioned high blood pressure and a possible heart condition.

Prior to the July flight to Pakistan, Ahmed had been detained at the Clay County Detention center in Indiana, according to Siddique.

Around June 10, Siddique contacted the detention center after Ahmed’s family raised concerns about whether he was receiving prescribed medication. A jail officer, Siddique shared, assured him that Ahmed was receiving them.

Siddique also spoke directly with Ahmed who told him he was getting the medication at that time but he could not confirm whether this was being done consistently.

“He may have been [receiving his medication] when I spoke to him, but I don’t know if he was receiving it daily,” he said. “That I don't know.”

He said he notified ICE of Ahmed’s medical needs and was told those concerns would be forwarded to the detention center.

Siddque said Clay County officials repeatedly told him that detainees could request medical care through electronic tablets. But Ahmed was not fluent in English and Siddique questioned whether he was able to properly use the system.

On June 18, Siddique learned that Ahmed had been placed in medical isolation. He said a Clay County officer cited claustrophobia but the circumstances surrounding the isolation remain unclear. He described medical isolation as similar to solitary confinement, with Ahmed alone in a cell.

Clay County officials confirmed Ahmed was in detention there but would not answer questions about his medical care.

In the days before his deportation, Ahmed was transferred through several detention facilities according to Siddique. On July 24 Ahmed was moved to Jackson Parrish Correctional Center in Louisiana, three days later he was transferred to Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, and on July 29 to Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.

Siddique said he does not know whether Ahmed received his prescribed medication at each facility or during the deportation flight.

“He keeps getting transferred, and then I'm not sure if everything went with him, “Siddique said.

Alexa Van Brunt, director of the Illinois office of the MacArthur Justice Center, is part of a legal team that recently filed a class-action lawsuit challenging conditions at Miami Correctional Facility, an Indiana prison that also holds ICE detainees. The lawsuit alleges inadequate medical care, delays in receiving prescribed medications, prolonged solitary confinement and unsanitary conditions.

Van Brunt said frequent transfers between detention facilities pose another risk for people with chronic illnesses.

“That’s another impediment to proper care because there’s no continuity of care for people with chronic diseases like cancer or diabetes,” she said.

Siddique said he tracked Ahmed’s transfers between detention facilities through ICE notifications but received no flight itinerary or updates during the journey.

ICE officials said Ahmed was medically cleared for travel and was no longer in their custody when he died.

“No medical emergencies occurred during the flight, no signs of medical distress were observed, and no individuals required hospitalization upon landing,” the agency said in a statement.

Ahmed boarded a flight to Pakistan on July 23 and received all of his scheduled medication during the flight ICE said.

“Any claims of neglect or mistreatment are categorically FALSE,” the agency said.

But after the plane landed, Ahmed allegedly collapsed on the tarmac in Pakistan.

Siddique said Ahmed’s son emailed him saying his father died seven hours after landing in Islamabad.

ICE officials said that once Ahmed was transferred to the custody of the Pakistani government, they no longer had “authority over their care or access to their medical or official records.”

Ahmed’s family is exploring legal action, according to Siddique.

Some Chicago advocates are calling for an independent criminal investigation into Ahmed’s death and ICE’s medical standards.

“This heartbreaking and entirely preventable tragedy lays bare the harrowing human cost of rushed, aggressive immigration enforcement,” Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago, said in a statement.

The Pakistan Consulate in Chicago and the Pakistani Embassy did not respond to requests for comment.