$400,000: The “Free” Medical Care Kristi Noem’s Goons Made Taxpayers Pay
Back on August 27, Kristi Noem’s goons raided a car wash in Carson, CA. In the process, they badly broke Bayron Rovidio Marin’s leg. The break was so bad, he has been hospitalized ever since. And in spite of the fact that they’ve never obtained a warrant or even claimed that Rovidio Marin is undocumented, ICE has been paying private guards to guard him 24/7 since then.
On August 27, 2025, Petitioner was arrested at the Carson Car Wash in Carson, California by uniformed Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officers and unidentified plainclothes federal agents. See Pet. ¶¶ 16, 48; Santiago Decl. ¶ 3. During the arrest, Petitioner sustained severe leg injuries. See Pet. ¶ 48; Santiago Decl. ¶ 5. He was handcuffed and transported by CBP to the emergency room at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Carson, California. Id.
At the hospital, Petitioner was admitted under a “blackout” procedure for patients in law-enforcement custody and was registered under the pseudonym “Har Maine UNK Thirteen.” Santiago Decl. ¶ 7. Federal agents remained at Petitioner’s bedside during admission, transfer to non-public treatment areas, and throughout his stay, keeping him handcuffed to his hospital bed. Id. ¶ 6
On or about August 27, 2025, CBP transferred custody of Petitioner to ICE. See Pet. ¶ 48. He remains detained at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center under the supervision of ICE, which has contracted with Spectrum Detention Services (“Spectrum”) to provide guards. See Santiago Decl. ¶ 8; Pet. ¶ 48.
Since that date, two to four uniformed guards—either Spectrum employees or ICE agents—have been continuously stationed in Petitioner’s hospital room, monitoring him at all times, including while he sleeps, eats, uses the restroom, or receives medical care. See Santiago Decl. ¶¶ 9–10. [my emphasis]
There’s a lot that’s outrageous about this unlawful detention: On top of the original injury, ICE hid this guy using fake names at the hospital, they’ve questioned him without reading him his rights, they’ve restricted his access to lawyers.
Judge Cynthia Valenzuela just ordered ICE to release him from “custody.”
But consider it from the context of right wing manufactured outrage that Democrats want to provide free medical care for “illegals,” a combination of misrepresentation that Democrats would provide healthcare for migrants with legal status, false accusations that those who rely on ACA subsidies are “illegal,” and complaints (voiced explicitly by JD Vance) that under EMTALA (which was passed under Ronald Reagan) hospital emergency rooms have to treat anyone in need of care.
Ignoring that ICE has not even claimed that the guy they hospitalized is undocumented, Kristi Noem’s goons have required taxpayers to pay for 37 days (and counting) of his medical care, plus private guards to watch him 24/7. The guards would cost upwards of $71,000 ($40 X 2 X 24 X 37), and just the room could cost upwards of $333,000 ($9,000 X 37). (ICE probably gets a discount on the room, but they still have to pay for his medical care.)
So just that one victim of ICE violence — someone against whom ICE had no warrant or even knowledge of his identity — may cost taxpayers upwards of $400,000.
And counting, because he’s still not out of the hospital.
Instead of paying for Medicaid and ACA subsidies to keep Americans healthy, right wingers in Congress decided to throw tons of money at Kristi Noem and Tom Homan (whose fondness for bags of cash gives him an incentive to drive up contractor cost) to go hunt down car wash workers who might or might not be undocumented.
And just one of the predictable injuries that resulted (there’s no telling how many other people abused by ICE Noem has hidden away under fake names) has cost taxpayers around $400,000.
What was the reason to register this individual under the pseudonym “Har Maine UNK Thirteen”? To keep his family and friends from knowing about him or his whereabouts? To emotionally inflict stress, worry, and anxiety about his disappearance? THEN to pay armed guards 24/7 to watch over him?
The Trump Admin loves to waste money on THEIR pet projects. Didn’t Noem blow through her budget and that was one of the reasons why the Big Ugly Bill HAD to be passed?
UNK = unknown?
Thirteen = at least twelve others previous to that date? [8/27/25]
They wouldn’t necessarily be ICE victims – Harbor-UCLA is the major hospital for that area.
???
When I grew up in Torrance where “Harbor General Hospital” is located on the eastside, being the “LA county hospital” where folks with little or no health insurance went. Awhile ago, the hospital was rebranded as Harbor-UCLA Medical Center to get eliminate that stigma.
The westside hospitals (Torrance Memorial, Little Company of Mary, Prospect Hospital) is where folks with insurance went. All of these hospitals have now all been rebranded with names reflecting their corporate owners.
if we had literally any semblance of investigative journalism (in a country dominated/monopolized by corporate media) this would lead every nightly broadcast. thanks for covering it Marcy.
Kyle Cheney found it.
But it was only unsealed with the habeas order–petition filings are sealed. So it only just became public.
That’s one heck of a Kavanaugh-stop
From the document:
“He remains detained at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center under the supervision of ICE, which has contracted with Spectrum Detention Services (“Spectrum”) to provide guards.”
Spectrum piqued my interest. There is also a Spectrum Security Services, which shares an e-mail address with Spectrum Detention Services. And there are multiple Spectrum Health Systems (i.e. Detention; Corrections Division; Juvenile-Justice-Services) with security components.
So, of course, this made me think of DeVos, which made me think of Erik Prince. I don’t have any direct or specific evidence linking either DeVos or Prince to any of this. But, just as a refresher, there is this:
“The return of Erik Prince: How a notorious military contractor maneuvered his way back inside Trump’s orbit” | CNN Politics, 3/13/25
“Among Prince’s closest allies, sources said, are Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Prince served as a character witness for Gabbard, who spent weeks as one of the administration’s more controversial cabinet nominees based on concerns from some Republican senators about her qualifications.”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/13/politics/erik-prince-return-maneuvered-inside-trump-orbit
Meanwhile, in Porland: “Richard Eckman, 84 and a Vietnam war veteran, and his wife Laurie Eckman, also 84, hold signs at the rally at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in South Portland before marching on to protest at the ICE facility a few blocks away. The Eckmans say federal officers rushed at them at the facility “for no apparent reason,” knocking the couple to the ground…” https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/10/federal-agents-knock-down-elderly-couple-during-portland-protest.html?gift=c318e8c3-aef2-4781-b0f1-99c5679f8ed5
Speaking of Homan:
“Military contractors linked to controversial Blackwater want civilian army and detention camps to run Trump’s deportation plans” – Alex Woodward, 2/25/25
“Temporary camps” inside U.S. Army facilities could be constructed “in less than one week,” and 2USV would supply the government with 49 planes for deportation flights, according to the proposal reviewed by Politico.
The proposal also calls for deputizing 10,000 private citizens — under the command of Trump’s border czar Tom Homan — and empowering them with the same authority as federal law enforcement officials.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/blackwater-erik-prince-trump-deportations-b2704468.html