Eight months after federal officers shot Ricardo Parias during an ICE detention operation, his lawyer says he’s still in pain – and the agency responsible for his care hasn’t answered for it.
Parias was shot during the operation to detain him. The circumstances of the shooting weren’t detailed by NPR, but his attorney says the injuries have persisted through months of detention inside a Department of Homeland Security facility.
Oversight gaps
The case has drawn attention to what critics describe as holes in DHS oversight – specifically how detained individuals receive medical care after suffering injuries during or before their arrest. Parias’s lawyer hasn’t said publicly how many times he’s raised the issue with facility officials, or whether formal complaints have been filed with DHS’s Office of Inspector General.
DHS runs a sprawling detention network. Thousands of people move through it at any given time, and medical care standards vary by facility and contractor. When detainees arrive with pre-existing injuries — especially gunshot wounds from the arrest itself — there’s no uniform federal requirement for how quickly they must be evaluated by outside specialists.
The Los Angeles City Council office of member Curren Price has been connected to the case, according to NPR’s reporting. Price’s office hasn’t publicly stated what, if any, action it plans to take.
Parias’s attorney hasn’t announced a lawsuit as of NPR’s June 20 report. The case remains open, and DHS hadn’t responded to questions about his medical condition.
Reported by NPR. Read the original report.
