‘My biggest fear is that he will die in there’: Cuban detainee with HIV reports ‘inhumane’ treatment at ICE facility in Miramar

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied a man with HIV access to his medication while in custody, according to Rosanna Sopo-Elias, who described him as a member of her “chosen family” in South Florida. Sopo-Elias, of Hollywood, said ICE was holding the man, who was born in Cuba and worked as a hair stylist in South Florida, at the ICE-ERO Center, at 2805 SW 145 Ave., in Miramar.“My biggest fear is that he will die in there,” Sopo-Elias said. At first, it seemed like her beloved friend “Mayito” had resigned himself to being deported and having to start his life again. He surrendered his dog to Sopo-Elias. “He sounded very calm, says, ‘You know, don’t worry, you know I’m just going to go back to Mexico. Everything is going to be OK. Just make sure you keep my dog.’ He was very calm,” Sopo-Elias said. “That was on a Sunday.” Sopo-Elias said he called her three days later. She was horrified when he reported the inhumane treatment that he was being subjected to. “He sounded like I had never heard him before. He was hysterical, hysterically crying, yelling, begging me to ‘Please, help’ him,” Sopo-Elias said. He said he didn’t have access to a shower or a proper bathroom. “He had soiled himself, and they wouldn’t let him take a shower, that he was in a 60-men cell, that there were no beds, that he was sleeping on the floor,” Sopo-Elias said. Earlier this week, members of the House Oversight Committee released a whistleblower’s photographs and a report that there were four portable restrooms for over 100 detainees. “This is inhumane; this is wrong … It’s inhumane. It doesn’t matter what your legal status is. Everyone should be treated with human dignity,” Sopo-Elias said. He said he had not been given any medication to treat HIV and other conditions.“These are very important medications that you cannot stop taking, especially all of a sudden,” Sopo-Elias said. “When I told him, ‘Speak to the people there! Ask them! That you need your medication!’ He told me, ‘There’s no medical personnel here.’”A spokesperson for Homeland Security released a statement saying, “Being in detention is a choice. We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $3,000 and a free flight to self-deport now.”Related document:Images of Miramar Holding Facility provided by the whistleblowerRelated reportsAmerican Friends Service Committee members call on lawmakers to visit ICE facilities Whistleblower report details alleged poor living conditions at multiple Florida ICE facilities, including in MiramarCongressman says Venezuelan man shot by ICE then taken into custody told he needs surgery