Attorneys say injured asylum seeker denied care at Baltimore ICE facility

Ever Alvarenga Rios, a 32-year-old asylum seeker, was hospitalized for three days after an ICE arrest on South Haven Street in Highlandtown and then brought to Baltimore’s downtown federal holding facility, where his attorneys say he still had not seen a doctor, nurse or other medical professional.

Attorneys for Alvarenga Rios said he was hit during the April 2 arrest as he was driving to work, with an ICE truck crashing into the back of his work truck. They said he suffered injuries to his head, back, hands and ACL. A photo from the scene showed an ICE truck smashed into the rear of his vehicle. The Department of Homeland Security later gave a sharply different account, saying he was driving recklessly, slammed on his brakes and triggered a multi-car pileup after officers tried to stop him.

The dispute over how the crash unfolded has become central to the case. Alvarenga Rios’s lawyers say a second ICE vehicle may have cut him off, forcing the collision. They have been trying to obtain video from the Baltimore Police Department and a nearby business to establish what happened on South Haven Street.

The bigger concern for his attorneys is what happened after the hospital stay. They said that when they visited him Thursday at the George H. Fallon Federal Building, the ICE hold rooms in downtown Baltimore, he had not been seen by any medical provider since arriving. They said he lacked medication, showers and fresh bandages, raising fears of infection and other complications from his injuries.

The detention site has long been a flashpoint in Baltimore. Advocates said in March 2025 that some people were held there beyond ICE’s 12-hour limit, sleeping on floors and going without blankets. On March 9, 2026, Maryland lawmakers made an unannounced visit and said they found the hold rooms empty. The next day, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown filed suit against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security seeking records tied to reported overcrowding, detention beyond legal limits, denial of medical care, denial of food and water, unsanitary conditions and denial of access to legal counsel.

The Baltimore case has also drawn political scrutiny. Sen. Chris Van Hollen described the lack of cooperation with Alvarenga Rios’s attorneys as a due-process issue, and lawmakers and immigrant-rights advocates have pointed to the George H. Fallon Federal Building as a symbol of broader concerns about how Baltimore-area detainees are treated in federal custody.