Ukrainian dies in immigration prison under mysterious circumstances: third death in the facility

Maksym Chernyak, a 44-year-old Ukrainian citizen who was in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was pronounced dead at HCA Kendall Hospital in Miami, Florida, on February 20. The preliminary cause is a cerebral hemorrhage, the ICE official website reports. However, the deceased's wife said NBC6that the husband was not sick with anything.

The Ukrainian was hospitalized after the Miami-Dade County Fire Department took him to the hospital on February 18 for vomiting and seizures.

Chernyak entered the United States on August 24, 2024, using a humanitarian parole granted to Ukrainian citizens. He was allowed to remain in the country until August 23, 2026. He stopped in Miami. The Ukrainian had been held in the Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, since January 26, after being arrested on charges of assault. The Broward County Jail transferred Chernyak to ICE custody on February 2, after which he was transferred to the Krom Migrant Detention Center.

On the subject: The US Immigration Service has stopped processing any applications from Ukrainians who entered the US under U4U.

The Miami-Dade County Fire Department transported Chernyak to HCA Kendall Hospital for vomiting and seizures. He was unconscious. A CT scan of his brain revealed a cerebral hemorrhage. Doctors intubated Chernyak and began administering several intravenous medications to stabilize him. Due to the massive intracranial hemorrhage, he was pronounced brain dead on February 19.

According to ICE records, the appropriate units, including the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility, were notified of the death. ICE also notified Cherniak's attorney because the deceased's documents did not list his next of kin.

By rule, after an official report of the death of an undocumented immigrant in ICE custody, ICE formally notifies Congress, nongovernmental organizations, and the media, and publishes a news release with relevant details on its official website within two business days, as required by agency policy. Additionally, ICE is required to release all reports of deaths in custody within 90 days.

All individuals in ICE custody are given a medical, dental, and psychiatric examination within 12 hours of arrival at the detention center, and a full medical examination within 14 days of admission to custody or arrival at the facility. Detainees have access to medical consultations and XNUMX-hour emergency care. No detained undocumented immigrant is denied emergency medical care at any time during their detention.

Meanwhile, the wife of 44-year-old Maxim Chernyak, who agreed to speak to NBC6 on condition of anonymity, claims that her husband did not suffer from any chronic illnesses. According to her, he was not given proper medical care at the Krom Center when he began to feel ill.

The woman said that she last spoke to her husband three days before his death. He complained that the Krom Center was cold and crowded. When he felt unwell, he called a doctor, who allegedly diagnosed him with high blood pressure, but did not give him any medication.

Chernyak was arrested on Jan. 26 on domestic violence charges in Broward County, but his wife claims police misunderstood the situation because her husband spoke limited English. On Feb. 2, the Ukrainian was turned over to ICE and transferred to the Krom Immigration Detention Center.

The couple came to the US last August under the Humanitarian Parole program in hopes of achieving the "American dream." Now the widow is left with only photographs of happy moments.

She said that after her husband's death, she found it very difficult - she had to organize a funeral and raise money to send her husband's body back to Ukraine, where his parents live.

According to ICE, Chernyak's death was the third such incident at the Krom Center since October 2024.

Defense attorney Katie Blankenship said her client Greg Welch, who is also in ICE custody, heard Chernyak pass out in the bathroom.

Welch believes that Chernyak smoked something and may have overdosed.

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“We called the officers, but they didn’t want to come until we told them he was dead,” Welch said. “Maxim had actually lost consciousness. We tried to call the medics, but they didn’t want to come because there were no personnel. They came a few hours later, when Chernyak was almost not breathing.”

"This is a systematic failure to provide medical care," Blankenship said. "As Greg explained, when this man was in critical condition, he did not receive any medical care until he was dying."

Chernyak's wife said her husband did not understand why he was transferred to the Krom Migrant Detention Center if he was allowed to stay in the United States until August 23, 2026.

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