MIAMI, Fla. — Sanctuary of the South, Amnesty International USA and the ACLU of Florida have demanded “urgent medical intervention” for Andriy Shepitsen, a 46-year-old Ukrainian man they say has been denied medical care by the Department of Homeland Security while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to an article from Amnesty International.
Shepitsen has been detained at the Krome North Service Processing Center since last December and was diagnosed with “severe bipolar disorder, major depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).”
The article notes that since being taken into ICE custody, he has “been denied critical psychiatric treatment and medication” despite reporting “suicidal ideation to facility staff on multiple occasions.”
In the report filed by Sanctuary of the South, Amnesty International USA and the ACLU of Florida to the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Shepitsen has “received no electrolyte supplementation, IV hydration, or physician-ordered vitamin support,” nor has he “received his prescribed psychiatric medication throughout the entirety of his time in ICE custody.”
Shepitsen began a “hunger strike [in February of this year] to protest the conditions of his detention and to demand his release.”
He has “lost 46 pounds” and, according to the report, his blood pressure “dropped from approximately 99/65 to around 70/65,” a level that “constitutes hypotensive shock and poses a serious and imminent risk of organ failure, cardiac arrest, and death” and “demands emergency medical intervention.”
As Shepitsen has not eaten since the beginning of his strike, “he is no longer able to walk on his own, and his mental health continues to deteriorate as he is denied critical treatment.”
Advocates’ efforts to “transport him to a hospital for emergency medical evaluation” have been denied, and facility guards have “refused to provide him with salt to add to his water for basic electrolyte support.”
SOS sought humanitarian parole for Shepitsen, which would allow him to temporarily enter the United States for urgent, compelling humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.
However, despite multiple follow-ups, their request was ignored. The report notes that the inaction ICE has taken toward the parole request has “continued even as Mr. Shepitsen’s condition has deteriorated to a life-threatening state.”
Additionally, guards failed to transport Shepitsen to court for his “first Master Calendar Hearing,” prompting a reschedule.
Despite documenting his medical needs and evidence proving he was “not a danger to society or a flight risk,” his bond was denied in January, and his “competency hearing,” initially scheduled for March 4, was postponed until April 17.
Katherine Blankenship, founding partner of SOS, believes Shepitsen’s “situation is critical” and fears he “cannot survive until [April 17] without immediate medical care.”
She has “urged DHS to ensure Andriy has emergency medical intervention and is released from detention” so that his basic needs could be met with proper care.
Additionally, the report specifies several of ICE’s own Performance-Based National Detention Standards from which advocates say the agency has deviated, identifying ICE’s “failure to act” as constituting “deliberate indifference.”
Amy Fischer, Amnesty International USA’s director for refugee and migrant rights, added in Amnesty International’s article, “Denying a detained person access to essential medical care is a violation of human rights.”
She indicated that Shepitsen’s case “follows a…pattern of mistreatment and abuse in ICE custody,” where, rather than receiving the care they need, “people are…often left to suffer.”
Referencing “Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq,” Sanctuary of the South, the ACLU of Florida and Amnesty International USA stressed that “DHS and its component agencies are legally obligated to provide reasonable accommodations and to ensure that individuals with disabilities are not denied adequate care [based on] their disability.”
They are requesting the release of Shepitsen from detention to the “care of his family” and demanding that ICE and DHS provide him with “prescribed psychiatric medications” and “ensure his safety and rehabilitation” while he awaits his hearing in April.
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