U.S. Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, from left, Frederica Wilson and North Miami Councilwoman Mary Irvin express outrage and demand an investigation of the death of Haitian immigrant Marie Ange Blaise, 44, while in ICE custody. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK

By David L. Snelling

Pompano Beach, Fla. – U.S. Reps. Sheila Chefilus-McCormick and Frederica Wilson along with North Miami Councilwoman Mary Irvin are calling for an investigation into the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-run Broward Transitional Center following the death of a Haitian immigrant woman.

Marie Ange Blaise, 44, reportedly died on April 25 after complaining about chest pains.

The woman’s death comes amid reports and protests over inhumane conditions and mistreatment of undocumented immigrants detained at Krome Detention Center in Southwest Miami-Dade and other facilities in the U.S.

Blaise reportedly is the third undocumented immigrant who died while being in ICE custody since January in South Florida.

The two congresswomen, whose districts include portions of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, toured the facility in Pompano Beach on May 2 and subsequently held a news conference outside the center to reveal what they discovered. It was disturbing, Cherfilus-McCormick said.

“The tour was heartbreaking to see how many people were pulled off the streets and brought to this facility,” she said during the news conference. “When we tried to speak to the health care provider, we were met with hostility and evasiveness from the healthcare facilitator on clear questions about the protocol for someone who has heart pain or chest pains. And they refuse to give us complete information.”

Cherfilus-McCormick said what’s more disturbing was there’s only one doctor on staff to treat more than 500 detainees.

“This is not humane,” she said. “It’s logical with so many people here that the facility would have (only) one doctor on call.”

Cherfilus-McCormick blames the Trump administration for the tragedy and others at ICE centers amid the president’s massive illegal immigration crackdown operation.

ICE has deported more than 30,000 undocumented immigrants since January including a record 1,100 in a sixday span in Florida last weekend.

“This administration’s deportation process has been sloppy and reckless since day one and as a direct result, innocent people are losing their lives, including Marie Blaise, who died in ICE custody,” she said. “Her loved ones and so many other immigrant families deserve justice now. I am calling for a full transparent investigation into Marie’s Death.”

According to reports, Blaise had been in custody since February when she tried to board a flight to North Carolina.

Federal immigration officials said her cause of death is still under investigation.

Wilson said after leaving the Broward Transitional Center, she saw how little ICE cares about immigrant detainees.

“The recent death in the Broward facility is just a tragic example of what happens when we let this government go unchecked,” Wilson said. “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

Wilson is calling for congressional oversight for the ICE centers detaining illegal immigrants.

She held up a copy of a petition signed by Democrats in Congress and is planning to introduce legislation to give it authority over the centers.

“Congress must use its oversight power to hold this administration accountable and ensure the humane treatment of immigrant detainees,” Wilson said. “This administration has failed to maintain its facilities or treat detainees humanely.

“We are an immigrant rich nation, and we must do better.”

Krome Detention Center, which sits on the edge of the Everglades, has been at the center of growing complaints about undocumented immigrants living in unsafe and hazardous conditions.

The facility houses about 1,700 detainees who have complained about mistreatment, overcrowding, lack of bed space and food, unsanitary confinement and medical neglect.

Krome is facing many challenges since Trump launched his unprecedented illegal immigration crackdown operation in January.

A massive influx of undocumented immigrants is overcrowding the facility, where there’s not enough bed space and food.

Wilson, who toured Krome last month, said she didn’t see overcrowding but federal immigration officials were planning to erect a tent city outside the facility for about 400 new detainees.

“I am positive that they took people out today, so I wouldn’t see the overcrowding,” said Wilson at a press conference immediately following her tour. “It was like somebody went in there yesterday and put on a whole new coat of fresh paint. You could even smell the paint and see the windows had been cleaned.”

According to the Associated Press, the detainee population saw a surge nationwide to nearly 48,000 as of March 23, a 21 percent increase from former President Biden’s final three months in political office.

To address the shortage, ICE published a request for bids to operate detention centers for up to $45 billion as it seeks to expand to 100,000 beds from its current budget for about 41,000.

As part of the buildout, the federal government for the first time is looking to hold migrants on U.S. Army bases, testing the limits of a more than century-old ban on military involvement in civilian law enforcement.

But the deaths of Blaise and two detainees at Krome this year raise serious concerns about possible medical neglect.

Reportedly, all three died of natural causes.

Maksym Chernyak, who was from Ukraine, died in February after complaining feeling lightheaded and living in freezing conditions.

He was being monitored for a week due to high blood pressure but then was rushed to the hospital for seizure like vomiting and shaking.

According to the Associated Press, citing a report from ICE, Chernyak appeared to be intoxicated and unresponsive at times.

He died two days later.

The 44-year-old Ukrainian entered the U.S. legally with his wife in August under a humanitarian program for people fleeing the country’s war with Russia.

He was sent to Krome after an arrest in south Florida for domestic violence and immediately got sick with a chest cold.

Genry Ruiz Guillen, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, died on Jan. 23, 2025, from an undisclosed medical condition.

It is not known if all detainees are tested for any underlying conditions and treated while being detained.

Last month, Wilson and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Weston), blasted the Department of Homeland Security for shutting down key watchdog agencies that investigate complaints at Krome and other facilities amid reports of civil rights violations of immigrant detainees.

DHS, in a letter to Wilson and Wasserman-Schultz, said it closed oversight offices on March 21 due to cutting jobs in the oversight agencies which included the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.