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Oscar Rascon Duarte - ICE Detention Death Investigation

Date of Death: September 8, 2025
Location: Banner Desert Medical Center, Mesa, Arizona
Age: 58
Nationality: Mexico
Cause of Death: Under investigation (multi-organ failure, complications from Alzheimer's, kidney cancer, hepatitis C)
Confidence Level: HIGH (ICE official reports, medical examiner, multiple news sources)

Executive Summary

Oscar Rascon Duarte, a 58-year-old Mexican national, died on September 8, 2025, at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Arizona, after being transferred from Promise Hospital where he was receiving long-term care for advanced Alzheimer's disease, kidney cancer, and hepatitis C. He was in ICE custody for less than 8 months after completing a 20-year prison sentence for child sexual abuse convictions. His death represents a case of terminal medical conditions in detention, raising questions about whether ICE detention was appropriate for someone requiring palliative/hospice-level care.

Timeline of Events

Background: 1976-2005

September 10, 1976:
- Rascon Duarte entered the United States near Douglas, Arizona, without admission or parole

July 19, 2005:
- Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County convicted him of:
- Attempted sexual contact with a minor
- Child molestation
- Sentenced to 20 years in prison and lifetime probation

2025: Transfer to ICE and Medical Decline

January 6, 2025:
- Completed 20-year prison sentence at Arizona Department of Corrections
- Immediately transferred to ERO Phoenix (ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations)
- Medical assessment revealed advanced terminal conditions:
- Late-stage Alzheimer's disease
- Right kidney cancer
- Hepatitis C
- Required "higher level of care"

January 2025 (specific date unknown):
- ICE Health Service Corps secured long-term placement at Promise Hospital in Mesa, Arizona
- Facility specialized in long-term acute care for complex medical needs
- Remained in Promise Hospital custody from January through early September

September 5, 2025:
- Transferred from Promise Hospital to Banner Desert Medical Center
- Reason: Multi-organ failure, bladder infection, lung issues
- Critical condition requiring acute hospital care

September 8, 2025:
- Pronounced deceased at Banner Desert Medical Center at approximately 2:33 PM
- Death occurred 8 months after transfer to ICE custody
- Cause of death remains under investigation

Medical History and Conditions

Terminal Diagnoses at ICE Intake (January 2025)

Late-Stage Alzheimer's Disease:
- Cognitive decline requiring specialized care
- Likely unable to participate meaningfully in legal proceedings
- Requiring assistance with activities of daily living

Right Kidney Cancer:
- Location suggests advanced disease
- No indication of treatment or prognosis in available records
- Cancer combined with other conditions created high mortality risk

Hepatitis C:
- Chronic liver disease
- Can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure
- Complicates treatment of other conditions

September 2025 Acute Decline

September 5 Transfer to Banner Desert:
- Multi-organ failure (suggests systemic collapse)
- Bladder infection (urosepsis risk)
- Lung issues (pneumonia, COPD, or fluid accumulation likely)

Clinical Interpretation:
These symptoms suggest terminal decline consistent with:
- End-stage kidney disease from cancer
- Possible sepsis from bladder infection
- Respiratory failure from multiple causes
- Alzheimer's preventing ability to communicate symptoms

ICE Custody Circumstances

Immigration History:
- Undocumented entry in 1976 (49 years of U.S. residence)
- No indication of prior deportation orders in available records
- Transfer to ICE following completion of criminal sentence

Detention Classification:
- Post-criminal sentence immigration detention
- Subject to mandatory detention under INA § 236(c) due to aggravated felony conviction
- No bond eligible under standard interpretation

Medical Custody Arrangements

Promise Hospital Placement:
- Long-term acute care hospital (LTACH)
- ICE paid for placement and care
- 24-hour medical supervision
- Specialized in patients with complex medical needs

Level of Care:
- ICE described as "higher level of care" than standard detention
- Suggests hospice or palliative care may have been appropriate
- No indication whether palliative care goals were established

Protocol Violations and Systemic Issues

Appropriateness of Detention for Terminal Patient

Medical Standards:
- ICE Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS) require individualized custody determinations
- Terminal illness is grounds for humanitarian release consideration
- Alzheimer's patients may not understand proceedings or pose flight risk

Questions Raised:
1. Was humanitarian release considered given terminal diagnoses?
2. Could Rascon Duarte understand his detention status or legal options?
3. Did ICE conduct competency evaluation given advanced Alzheimer's?
4. Was family notified of his condition and offered opportunity for compassionate release petition?

Medical Care Documentation

What We Don't Know:
- Quality of care at Promise Hospital
- Whether pain management was adequate
- If palliative/hospice care goals were established
- Whether family was involved in care decisions
- Cost of 8 months of long-term acute care (taxpayer expense)

Death Investigation Transparency

Current Status:
- ICE stated cause of death is "under investigation"
- No timeline provided for completion of investigation
- No indication whether independent autopsy was conducted
- No public information about DHS Office of Inspector General review

Broader Context: 2025 ICE Custody Deaths

Statistical Position

15th Death of 2025:
- Rascon Duarte's death occurred relatively early in a year that became the deadliest since 2004
- By year's end, 31 people died in ICE custody in 2025
- Represents more than 66% increase from 2021

Arizona Deaths:
- Three deaths occurred in Arizona ICE facilities in 2025
- Arizona has history of problematic detention conditions
- Desert climate creates additional medical challenges

Pattern Analysis

Medical Neglect in 2025:
- Multiple deaths attributed to delayed or inadequate medical care
- Terminal patients held in detention rather than released
- Budget pressures potentially affecting medical care quality

Common Factors:
- Elderly detainees (58 years old)
- Terminal or chronic conditions
- Post-criminal sentence detention
- Deaths in hospital after transfer from ICE facility

Detention of Terminally Ill Individuals

Legal Framework:
- ICE has discretionary authority to grant humanitarian release
- Terminal illness is recognized grounds for release
- Advanced age and medical needs are factors for custody redetermination

Ethical Questions:
1. Is it appropriate to detain someone with late-stage Alzheimer's who cannot understand proceedings?
2. Should terminal patients be in ICE custody or hospice care?
3. What public safety purpose is served by detaining someone who is dying?
4. Are medical resources better spent on custody or release with monitoring?

Criminal History Considerations

Conviction Background:
- 2005 convictions for attempted sexual contact with minor and child molestation
- Served full 20-year sentence
- Subject to lifetime probation (which could not be supervised if deported)

Complicating Factors:
- Serious criminal history may have influenced ICE detention decision
- Community safety concerns vs. humanitarian considerations
- Advanced Alzheimer's likely eliminated any risk of reoffense
- Criminal history should not preclude humanitarian medical treatment

Fiscal Considerations

Costs of Medical Detention:
- Long-term acute care hospital placement is extremely expensive (often $2,000-$5,000+ per day)
- 8 months of LTACH care likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
- Acute hospitalization in final days added additional costs
- Alternative: Humanitarian release with community support would cost far less

Family and Community Response

Notification and Involvement

Unknown Factors:
- No public information about family notification
- Unknown if family was in Mexico or United States
- No reports of family seeking humanitarian release
- Unclear if family was involved in medical care decisions

Typical Barriers:
- ICE often delays family notification
- Families may not know how to request humanitarian release
- Language barriers and immigration status fears prevent engagement
- Criminal history may have alienated family

Community Advocacy

Limited Public Attention:
- Death received minimal media coverage compared to other 2025 cases
- Criminal history likely reduced advocacy organization interest
- Terminal medical conditions complicated narrative
- No apparent community organizing around case

Comparison to Other September 2025 Deaths

Santos Banegas Reyes (Sept 18, 2025)

  • Similarities: Both died in custody, both raise medical care questions
  • Differences: Banegas died within 18 hours of custody vs. 8 months; acute vs. chronic conditions

Ismael Ayala-Uribe (Sept 22, 2025)

  • Similarities: Both involved delayed or inadequate medical response to serious conditions
  • Differences: Ayala-Uribe was DACA recipient with 35 years U.S. residence; medical neglect was acute

Norlan Guzman-Fuentes (Sept 24, 2025)

  • Similarities: Both counted in 2025 ICE custody death statistics
  • Differences: Guzman-Fuentes killed by external shooter; not medical neglect case

Pattern Across September 2025

  • 4 deaths in one month (including Guzman-Fuentes shooting)
  • Mix of acute and chronic medical conditions
  • All involved medical system failures
  • All deaths were preventable through different custody decisions

Investigative Findings

What We Know with High Confidence

  1. Terminal Diagnosis at Intake:
  2. Rascon Duarte had late-stage Alzheimer's, kidney cancer, and hepatitis C when transferred to ICE
  3. ICE documented need for "higher level of care"

  4. Conditions were known to be terminal

  5. 8 Months in Medical Detention:

  6. Held in long-term acute care hospital from January to September
  7. Receiving 24-hour medical supervision

  8. Died after transfer to acute hospital for multi-organ failure

  9. Death Investigation Ongoing:

  10. ICE stated cause under investigation as of September 2025
  11. No public results available as of February 2026 (5 months later)

What We Don't Know

  1. Humanitarian Release Consideration:
  2. No public record of whether ICE considered compassionate release
  3. Unknown if family petitioned for release

  4. No documentation of custody redetermination review

  5. Medical Care Quality:

  6. Unknown whether care at Promise Hospital was adequate
  7. No information about pain management or palliative care

  8. No details about medical decision-making process

  9. Death Investigation Results:

  10. Autopsy findings not publicly released
  11. DHS OIG review status unknown
  12. No accountability for detention decisions

Key Findings Summary

  1. Detention of Terminal Patient:
  2. Rascon Duarte was terminally ill with multiple conditions requiring hospice-level care
  3. ICE detained him for 8 months in expensive medical facility rather than humanitarian release

  4. Advanced Alzheimer's likely prevented him from understanding his legal situation

  5. Medical Care vs. Detention:

  6. Long-term acute care hospital placement cost likely exceeded $200,000
  7. Alternative community placement with supervision would have been more humane and cheaper

  8. Public safety rationale questionable given terminal condition and cognitive decline

  9. Transparency Failures:

  10. Death investigation results not released 5 months after death
  11. No public information about family notification or involvement

  12. Pattern of opacity consistent with other ICE custody deaths

  13. Systemic Pattern:

  14. One of 31 deaths in ICE custody in 2025 (deadliest year in two decades)
  15. Part of broader pattern of detaining medically complex individuals

  16. Reflects ICE prioritization of detention over humanitarian considerations

  17. Criminal History Complication:

  18. Serious child sexual abuse convictions from 2005
  19. Served full 20-year sentence before ICE transfer
  20. Criminal history should not eliminate humanitarian medical treatment rights
  21. Advanced Alzheimer's eliminated risk of reoffense

Recommendations for Further Investigation

  1. FOIA Requests:
  2. Medical records from Promise Hospital and Banner Desert
  3. ICE custody review and humanitarian release consideration documents
  4. Death investigation report from DHS OIG

  5. Communications about medical care and family notification

  6. Policy Analysis:

  7. Review ICE policies on detention of terminally ill individuals
  8. Examine fiscal costs of medical detention vs. supervised release

  9. Assess competency evaluation procedures for Alzheimer's patients

  10. Comparative Analysis:

  11. Compare to other cases of terminal patients in ICE custody
  12. Examine outcomes of humanitarian release for similar medical conditions

  13. Study international standards for immigration detention of terminally ill

  14. Accountability:

  15. Identify decision-makers who determined continued detention
  16. Examine whether humanitarian release was requested and denied
  17. Assess whether policies were followed or violated

Sources and Verification

Primary Sources

  • ICE official press release (September 8, 2025)
  • ICE Detainee Death Report (FOIA document: ddrDuarteRasconOscar.pdf)
  • Arizona Superior Court records (2005 conviction)

News Sources

  • CAL News Arizona: "A total of 15 people have died in ICE custody this year. The latest death happened in Arizona"
  • Reader Supported News: "2025 Was ICE's Deadliest Year in Two Decades. Here Are the 31 People Who Died in Custody"
  • Solitary Watch: "The Other ICE Killings"
  • VisaVerge: "Spike in ICE Custody Deaths in 2025; DHS Has Not Denied the Increase"

Verification Level: HIGH

Three-Source Rule: MET
- Official ICE documentation
- Independent news reporting
- Court records

Limitations:
- No independent medical records
- No family interviews
- Death investigation results not public
- Limited media coverage due to criminal history

September 2025 Deaths

  • Santos Banegas Reyes (Sept 18) - Died in Nassau County jail within 18 hours
  • Ismael Ayala-Uribe (Sept 22) - DACA recipient died of sepsis, medical neglect
  • Norlan Guzman-Fuentes (Sept 24) - Killed in Dallas ICE shooting

Other Terminal/Chronic Medical Cases

  • Previous ICE custody deaths of elderly or terminally ill detainees
  • Humanitarian release denials for cancer patients
  • Alzheimer's patients detained despite cognitive decline

Report Completed: February 5, 2026
Investigator: Oilcloth
Confidence Level: HIGH
Sources: 7 verified sources including official ICE documentation
Note: Criminal history documented for completeness; does not justify inadequate medical care or detention of terminal patient

Published by Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Methodology: Bellingcat-standard OSINT — public sources only