Family Says Medical Neglect Led to Death of Costa Rican Man Deported by ICE in Vegetative State

The family of Randall Alberto Gamboa Esquivel, a 52-year-old Costa Rican man detained by U.S. immigration authorities earlier this year and deported in a vegetative state, says medical negligence during his custody led to his death in Costa Rica on October 26.

Gamboa was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas in February after what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described as an illegal re-entry. He was initially held at the Webb County detention facility and later transferred to another site in Port Isabel, where relatives say he communicated daily until June, when contact abruptly stopped.

His sister, Greidy Mata, told El País last week that the family received no explanation. "Someone at the detention center said he had a health issue ... but they didn't give us any more information," she said.

According to a statement provided to The Guardian on Tuesday by DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, medical personnel diagnosed Gamboa with "unspecified psychosis" and hospitalized him at Valley Baptist Hospital. His family said he could not be located until August, after two attorneys allegedly defrauded them and a third succeeded in finding him. By then, he was bedridden, unable to eat on his own, and placed in an air ambulance paid for by ICE.

He arrived in Costa Rica on September 3 with encephalopathy and rhabdomyolysis, his family said. He was first treated in San José and later transferred to a hospital in his hometown of Pérez Zeledón, where he died. CNN reported that the hospital confirmed the date and time of death but did not disclose a cause, citing patient-data protections.

Costa Rica's foreign ministry said it has begun diplomatic follow-up. Herbert Espinoza, a senior consular official, told CNN that the government requested details from the U.S. State Department about Gamboa's medical care and how he came to be deported in critical condition. He called the case "extraordinary," saying it was the first in many years involving someone returned in such poor health.

The Trump administration has rejected claims of mistreatment. McLaughlin said that the care Gamboa received was "better than many immigrants have received in their entire lives," and emphasized that "ensuring the safety, security and wellbeing of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE." She noted that illegal re-entry is a felony and that Gamboa previously had nonviolent convictions for commercial-vehicle licensing and fraud.

Former Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Óscar Arias publicly backed the family. Writing on X, he said Gamboa "entered the U.S. illegally but in perfect physical condition," and argued that his relatives "deserve to know the truth" about what occurred in custody.