Vietnamese refugee suffering from dementia dies in ICE custody in Texas

A 55-year-old Vietnamese refugee with dementia reportedly died of natural causes while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at the Long Term Acute Care Hospital in El Paso, Texas on April 16.

Nhon Ngoc Nguyen, who came to the U.S. in July 1983 and was granted legal status under the Refugee Act of 1980, was detained during a Feb. 24 appointment with ICE in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he had been living since 2018. An autopsy revealed that he died of acute pneumonia, with dementia listed as a secondary cause.

However, his attorney, Tin Nguyen, said his family believes there was “some negligence” on ICE’s part. “We don’t know the details of what happened in his last days at the hospital,” Tin Nguyen told the Albuquerque Journal. “I think there are a lot of questions that need to be answered in how ICE treats people who are sick.”

The family, who lives in Dallas, reportedly did not know Nguyen’s whereabouts from mid-February until late March when ICE informed them he was ready for release but required constant medical care.

In a press release, ICE noted that Nguyen had a 1991 conviction for second-degree murder in California, which violated his residency terms. The agency said he was arrested “based on his final order of removal with the significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future to Vietnam” following a 2013 deportation order.

From Feb. 26 until his death, Nguyen was transferred multiple times between the El Paso Processing Center and hospitals for treatment. The agency said it “coordinated closely with Nguyen’s attorney to identify and contact Nguyen’s family members able to take custody and care for him in the United States to no avail.”

ICE maintained that it “remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments” and that “comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.”

Nguyen’s death has drawn attention from immigrant rights activists. At May Day rallies across New Mexico on May 1, thousands reportedly gathered in events that celebrated workers and expressed solidarity with those targeted by the Trump administration, including immigrants.

Attendees in Albuquerque’s Tiguex Park carried Nguyen’s photo. A statement from his nephew, Duke Nguyen, was read aloud.