Man Dies in ICE Custody in San Diego After Brain Hemorrhage

A 37-year-old man from Cameroon died Tuesday while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after suffering a brain hemorrhage. Nebane Abienwi was rushed to the emergency room on Sept. 26 after experiencing a “hypertensive event,” according to an ICE statement. Abienwi was being detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, and had been receiving care at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center since Thursday night, the statement said. Physicians identified the cause of Abienwi’s death as brain death secondary to basal ganglia hemorrhage, ICE said. He had applied for admission into the United States in early September at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. According to Department of Homeland Security records, Abienwi did not have proper entry documents when he crossed the border on Sept. 5, and he was transferred to ICE custody on Sept. 19.