PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The family of a Vietnamese man from Philadelphia is raising questions about his death while in ICE custody last month.
Tuan Van Bui, 55, died April 1 at Miami Correctional Center in Bunker Hill, Indiana. Advocates said Bui came to America as a 29-year-old in 1990 through the Amerasian Homecoming Act, a VISA program established for children born in Vietnam to American fathers during the war.
He was detained during a routine check-in with Philadelphia ICE last August. After he was detained, advocates said his wife suffered a stroke.
They said Bui was held for several months at Moshannon Valley Processing Center.
Inmates there recently held a hunger strike to draw attention to the lack of healthcare. ICE said Bui entered custody with a history of asthma and hypertension and was given appropriate medication.
Bui was then shipped to the Miami Correctional Center, where he died. The cause of death remains under investigation. His family is asking the government to send his body back to Philadelphia so he can be buried here. They also request an independent investigation into his death.
Detainee deaths, by law, must be made public, and in reporting Bui’s death, ICE lists arrests for crimes Bui was never convicted of. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he served time in prison on misdemeanor drug charges and DUI.
ICE has not responded to a request for comment.
Tuan Van Bui died in April at an Indiana immigration detention center
Tuan Van Bui died in April at an Indiana immigration detention center
