Editor’s note: This story discusses suicide and self-mutilation and may not be suitable for some readers. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.

A legal green card holder with schizophrenia alleges in a new lawsuit that he mutilated himself after being repeatedly denied his medications while in immigration custody at the Nevada Southern Detention Center. 

The lawsuit filed in the 8th Judicial District Court in Clark County last month on behalf of Jose Braulio Sedano Navarro claims that nurses repeatedly ignored or failed to log Navarro’s escalating mental health complaints. He is seeking to recover damages for “pain, suffering, and all other allowable damages.” 

After he was placed in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in early June 2025, the lawsuit states, Navarro, 31, repeatedly asked staff at the Pahrump facility for his antipsychotic medication, warning them that he was hearing voices and hallucinating about demons. 

A facility doctor named as a defendant in the suit allegedly failed to give Navarro a proper substitution for his long-acting injectable medicine, and in late August, Navarro attempted suicide. The lawsuit claims the facility’s mental health counselor was not notified and Navarro was not transferred to a hospital following his attempt.

Two days later, the lawsuit states, Navarro removed his eye during a psychotic episode. He was airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, but his vision could not be recovered and he is now permanently disfigured.  

“Regardless of somebody's past, detention facilities still have a responsibility to find adequate medical care and care and then protect people in their custody from foreseeable harm,” Thomas Beckom, one of Navarro’s attorneys, said in an interview.

Neither the facility doctor nor ICE responded to a request for comment. In a statement, CoreCivic — the private prison company that operates the detention facility — told The Nevada Independent that they adhere to all applicable federal standards. They added that the facility’s clinic is staffed with licensed, credentialed doctors and mental health professionals who “meet the highest standards of care. 

“All detainees have daily access to sign up for medical care and mental health services,” spokesperson Brian Todd said. 

Navarro’s case is reflective of growing concerns from advocacy groups and immigration lawyers that as President Donald Trump’s crackdown on unauthorized immigration continues, ICE detention facilities are ill-equipped to handle people in medical distress. From 2020 to late 2025, ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight found more than 150 lapses in self-harm and suicide prevention and intervention protocols at detention facilities nationwide.

Those concerns have long been simmering at the Nevada Southern Detention Center, which held 460 ICE detainees as of this February. A September 2024 inspection identified deficiencies in the “Self-Harm and Suicide Prevention” and “medical care” categories. The facility — which also houses non-ICE detainees — has been sued multiple times in the past few years for wrongful death lawsuits and failing to properly care for detainees with mental health issues.

The facility had at least one suicide attempt in 2024, according to 911 call logs obtained via public records request by The Nevada Independent. Through the first nine months of 2025, the facility had at least 25 calls related to medical issues ranging from overdoses to diabetic episodes. One 2025 call log reported that an inmate on suicide watch had assaulted a facility officer. 

According to ICE’s 2025 National Detention Standards, detention facilities are required to have policies and procedures for a comprehensive suicide prevention and intervention program — including training on recognizing self-harm symptoms. The standards also stipulate that facilities must immediately refer detainees at risk of suicide to a mental health provider.

“We have heard the conditions that they're dealing with are not good,” Sadmira Ramic, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Nevada, told The Nevada Independent, in an interview about the Nevada Southern Detention Center’s 911 call logs this September. “This is someone who is likely being taken away from their family and is unable to make contact with them and has very limited contacts with people on the outside, so that can be mentally straining on people.”

Navarro’s lawyers told The Nevada Independent that the loss of his eye severely limited his ability to work and that his pre-existing mental health issues have been aggravated from the incident. Navarro had been a legal permanent resident as early as 2007, his lawyer said, but has now been deported to Mexico. 

In the early 2010s, Navarro had a previous sex offense in California for which he served time and completed probation. His lawyers said that Navarro was picked up for immigration-related reasons. 

“There’s tremendous, massive psychological injuries that stem from all of this,” attorney Lawrence Hill said in an interview. 

The lawsuit also lists a registered nurse and facility doctor as defendants.

The number of medical staff at the Nevada Southern Detention Center and their capacity is unclear. The facility is currently recruiting a psychologist and mental health therapist, per the CoreCivic website.