A federal judge on Friday ordered the release of a Filipino man from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, noting a "pattern of failures" in his medical care that "more likely than not resulted in the extreme pain and permanent disability."
Judge Tana Lin of the Western District of Washington wrote that the man, Greggy Sorio, saw his health decline while in the facility, eventually suffering two partial foot amputation surgeries, ulcerative colitis, blood loss, a kidney injury, a deficiency in vitamin D and "dramatic unintended weight loss."
Lin wrote the “unreasonable treatment” of Sorio violated the Constitution and that Sorio be released.
Sorio entered the U.S. as a "lawful permanent resident" in 2007, according to the judge's order, and was detained by ICE in March after he was released from prison. He was being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.
In July, Sorio complained of blood in his stool, severe abdominal pain and yellowing of his skin and was denied requests to be sent to the hospital.
By October, Sorio said he was "in extreme pain and could barely walk" and was sent to the hospital after several hours of waiting, the judge's order recounted. Although Sorio was prescribed an antibiotic at the hospital, the ICE facility staff did not fill the prescription and seemed to believe he had been diagnosed with "inflammatory bowel syndromes," an apparent reference to irritable bowel syndrome, the order noted.
A few days later, Sorio reported pain and swelling in his foot and said he was initially denied a hospital visit. When he went to the hospital on Oct. 22, he was determined to have a bone infection and went through two amputation surgeries.
Sorio told NBC's Seattle affiliate after he was released on Friday, "If they had sent me to the hospital in July when I was begging them, I wouldn’t lose my foot. It’s preventable. They could have prevented this.”
Sorio's criminal record, according to the affiliate station, includes "convictions for domestic violence, assault, theft, forgery and burglary."
Sorio told the outlet, "I did my time on it and I’m a better person now. Everybody has a past.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
