Ng came to New York at 17 and later became a computer engineer with a job in the Empire State Building with a U.S. citizen as a wife, two U.S. citizens as children, and a house in Queens. He spent half his life here.
Ng was seeking a green card and went to his final interview with ICE. (The family says that a notice had been sent to the wrong address on his visa earlier). Upon his arrival, he was informed that he had overstayed a visa years earlier and was arrested — staring an ordeal that took him to various jails and three New England states. He ultimately ended up dead after ICE officials indicated that he thought that he was faking his complaints about back pain. It turns out that that he had a fractured back and cancer.
There have been a number of such complaints against ICE. I have personally dealt with ICE officials who simply refuse to respond to counsel on deportation cases, showing open content for both courts and counsel. Earlier this year, ICE was accused of negligence in the cancer death of Francisco Castaneda, 36, a Salvadoran, who was also left without treatment for cancer. There is also Boubacar Bah, 52, a Guinean tailor, who was left in an isolate cell for 13 hours with a skull fracture and brain hemorrhages.
Congress is beginning to express concern over the thuggish and abusive record of ICE in such cases. Yet, it is civil and possibly criminal charged that is needed to hold this agency accountable.
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