Los Angeles — Outside the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, a 26-year-old man stood waiting, hoping to deliver blood pressure medicine to his father, who was detained last Thursday by federal immigration officials.
The man, who asked that CBS News not use his name, said his father, Rafael Hurtado, needs to take the medication daily to control his blood pressure. The staff turned Hurtado’s son away, but asked him to leave the pills behind.
“My dad told me it’s horrible inside and they’ve kept him standing,” he said, adding his father managed to make his first phone call on Sunday. “They’re not feeding him and there are no blankets inside.”
Hurtado was taken into custody while he was working — picking up trash. His son says he doesn’t have a criminal record or a removal order.
Hurtado is a Mexican national and a father of three children, all U.S. citizens, including one with special medical needs.
“My dad suffers from high blood pressure and we haven’t heard from him since Sunday,” Hurtado’s son said. “I only had a few seconds to speak with him on the phone before the call was cut off so I’ve been coming every day to see if I can get any news of him.”
Longtime food vendor and community activist Emma De Paz, 58, is also being held here. She was detained last week when federal officers conducted an operation at a Home Depot in Hollywood where De Paz was selling carne asada. According to her family, De Paz was recently diagnosed with Hepatitis B and needs daily medication to treat her high blood pressure. She was transferred to White Memorial Hospital during her detention to undergo care.
The Metropolitan Detention Center, where people arrested by ICE are being held, is seen during a nightly curfew on June 12, 2025, as protests continue in downtown Los Angeles in response to a series of immigration raids.
“My sister called us to say they’re treating them really bad,” said Carlos Barrera De Paz during a Wednesday press conference outside of the Guatemalan consulate in Los Angeles. “They are in a cold room, no food, they’re given a pack of cookies and a juice per day.”
De Paz added his sister claims agents are pressuring her to sign deportation paperwork and has had to sleep in a chair.
Immigration lawyers in L.A. tell CBS News, they’ve been receiving more and more calls about medical needs that aren’t being addressed at the Metropolitan Detention Center. One lawyer, who chose not to identify herself because she has clients inside the detention center, said there are reports of “inhumane” conditions — food shortages, cramped confinement, freezing temperatures and environments that are a “ticking-time bomb.”
