Mom of 5 in immigration detention in Texas taken to ER, sparking urgent calls for her release

A mother of five detained at an ICE detention center in Texas was taken to the emergency room in “excruciating” pain, weeks after center officials denied her a CT scan because of a lump in her chest, according to her attorney.

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The woman, Hayman El Gamal, has been seeking medical attention since February 17 for her abnormal growth, which is causing severe pain, according to a court document filed Wednesday by her lawyer, Eric Lee.

Lee says in the document, filed in federal court for the Western District of Texas, that El Gamal was initially denied a CT scan recommended by a doctor at the Dilley Detention Center. A subsequent scan taken when she was taken to the emergency room revealed she had fluid around her heart or a pericardial effusion. The emergency room doctor recommended an ultrasound, but DHS, ICE and CoreCivic, which manages Dilley, denied the request, according to court documents.

CoreCivic said in a statement that it could not comment specifically on El Gamal’s case due to ongoing litigation and medical privacy concerns.

DHS and ICE did not respond to requests for comment on El Gamal’s case and the detention of the children. DHS has previously called allegations of poor care “mainstream media lies” and said parents and children are “housed in facilities that ensure their safety, security, and medical needs.”

The agency also previously said families had access to a full medical staff, including a pediatrician, and described that care as “the best health care” some inmates have received “in their entire lives.”»

Lee said he asked three doctors to independently review El Gamal’s medical records. In the court document, they said she would need to undergo additional tests for cancer, autoimmune diseases and heart problems, and they raised concerns about her health.

They concluded that ICE and CoreCivic “systematically deny Ms. El Gamal medical care, but also that this poses an urgent threat to Ms. El Gamal’s health and potentially her life,” according to the documents.

El Gamal and his children, aged 5 to 18, were arrested on June 3 following the arrest of the children’s father, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, to whom El Gamal was then married and has since divorced.

Soliman is charged in connection with a fatal firebomb attack in Colorado and is accused of throwing two Molotov cocktails at protesters demanding the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. His family said they knew nothing of his activities or plans toward them and condemned his actions. The administration is trying to evict the family.

El Gamal and his children have been at Dilley for more than 10 months, making them “by far” the family that has been held there the longest, Lee said. Under rules imposed by courts following a settlement of a lawsuit, the government cannot detain children for more than 20 days, a rule the administration repeatedly violates.

Given El Gamal’s health problems, Lee wants the court to reunite her with her eldest daughter, Habiba Soliman, who was separated from her family at the center when she turned 18, so she could care for her younger siblings if El Gamal was hospitalized. Alternatively, he requested a new court bail hearing.

Lee asked the court at an April 14 meeting to allow the family to be released with ankle monitors — including on the children — as well as daily ICE check-ins. But Department of Homeland Security lawyers opposed any release.

The family made repeated attempts in federal and immigration courts to secure his release. The first came after the White House posted on social media: “Six one-way tickets for Mohamed’s wife and five children. Final boarding call coming soon.” A federal judge stopped their expedited deportation.

They lost a bid to win their release last year, arguing before a Federal Court judge that it was illegal to detain them for the alleged crimes of their father and then-husband. Although an immigration judge granted them bail in September, the Immigration Appeals Board overturned the decision. At a second bond hearing, the judge changed his ruling that he was not a flight risk. They are challenging this decision in this latest attempt.

CoreCivic added in its statement that Dilley “has been the target of baseless claims and allegations made by individuals who are either misinformed or intentionally misleading the public to advance their agenda.”

It said its health team includes board-certified physicians and registered nurses who “reflect a commitment to culturally competent, patient-centered care in a setting where families may face trauma, uncertainty and language barriers” and that “emergency medical services are activated immediately when an individual’s clinical presentation exceeds what can be safely managed on site.”

NBC News asked DHS and ICE for comment on the court filing and allegations regarding El Gamal’s medical care, but did not receive a response.

“The pain increases”

According to Lee, an official form from ICE or CoreCivic dated February 21 indicates that El Gamal requested a CT scan on that date. Her follow-up appointment was March 12, but Dilley’s doctor told her that “her request for a referral to an off-site doctor who could perform a CT scan was rejected by ‘higher-ups’ at ICE or CoreCivic,” court documents state.

“Each time Ms. El Gamal requested medical attention, the notes indicate she was simply ‘reassured,’ given ibuprofen or generic suggestions such as ‘prevent dehydration’ and ‘avoid heavy lifting,'” Lee said in the documents.

Lee said on social media that a doctor told El Gamal the lump was a bone. She was denied access to her own medical records and continued to seek medical treatment, Lee said in the court document.

She was ultimately taken to an off-site emergency room on April 9 after pleading for about two hours. She rated the pain she was enduring at the time as an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10, the document states.

“Instead of having the ultrasound as she desperately requested, Ms. El Gamal was told she had to return to Dilley. It is not known if the tumor is cancerous, all we know is that the pain is increasing and Ms. El Gamal has not received any diagnosis that could lead to appropriate treatment,” the document states.

Dr. Amy Zeidan, associate professor of emergency medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, who reviewed El Gamal’s medical documents at Lee’s request, said El Gamal “underwent a chest CT without contrast. A chest CT with contrast would have been the preferred imaging study to evaluate for infection.”

According to court documents, Zeidan also said the lump was possibly cancer, and she recommended an urgent examination of the fluid around her heart and that she receive an echocardiogram and be referred to a cardiologist. She also recommended lab work on his abdominal pain, a referral to a gastroenterologist, and an ultrasound of his chest mass.

Dr. Virginia Reddy, a rheumatologist at the North Texas Center for Rheumatology who also reviewed El Gamal’s medical records at Lee’s request, said, according to court documents, that because of the fluid around his heart, El Gamal may have an underlying rheumatologic disease and should undergo laboratory testing for an autoimmune disease such as lupus.

“It is important to diagnose and begin treatment as early as possible to reduce the risk of permanent organ damage. If laboratory findings or skin lesions suggestive of lupus are noted, she should be urgently referred to a rheumatologist,” Reddy wrote. She also expressed concern about a potential “underlying malignancy.”

Dr. Christopher Merrick, chief of the medical staff at the University of Colorado Health Memorial Hospital and an expert in pulmonary medicine, suggested, after reviewing El Gamal’s recent medical history at Lee’s request, that she might have a gastric/peptic ulcer but was taking medications, such as ibuprofen and prednisone, “that would exacerbate any potential underlying ulcer disease,” according to court documents.

“I regret to say that Ms. El Gamal has suffered and continues to suffer at the hands of the negligent staff at the Dilley facility. Their inaction puts her life at risk in a very tangible way,” Merrick wrote.

“It could be something serious”

Habiba Soliman, El Gamal’s daughter, who was detained at Dilley with her mother and siblings until she turned 18 in June, spoke to NBC News in early March.

She said the family was initially hesitant to seek medical treatment for her mother because they saw many people with serious illnesses and medical problems receive little or no care at Dilley.

But as the situation worsened, they began pleading with detention center officials for a medical examination to be carried out on El Gamal’s growth.

“We said, ‘Please, we need a CT scan or something. This could be something serious,'” she said. “They said ‘just take an x-ray’ and the x-ray is literally broken – it doesn’t even work properly.”

Habiba Soliman said a 16-year-old brother had appendicitis at the detention center. After eight hours of pain and inability to stand, his brother went to the medical center, where he saw a nurse who told him to take Tylenol and come back in three days if he still had pain. His brother was crying and, according to Habiba Soliman, told the nurse that he could not walk.

“He walked from his room to the waiting room, then he fell to his knees and vomited everywhere,” Habiba Soliman said. “That’s when they started taking it seriously.”

DHS and ICE did not respond to questions about the family’s account of the teen’s appendicitis.

His brother had surgery at a nearby medical facility in July, but when he returned to Dilley, according to his account, “they wanted him to go around and walk from the bedroom to the dining room to the line for pills.”

“They wanted someone who had just had surgery to wait in line for at least two hours and walk at least 15 minutes from the room three times a day,” she said, adding that her mother had to fight with at least six people to get medicine and food to her room. “It’s just a bunch of people who don’t care.”