A 39-year-old man died in hospital alone, miles from his family, after being detained by US immigration officials.

Ismael Ayala-Uribe, who had lived in the US since he was four, fell ill while in an immigration detention centre in California.

He complained of a fever and had a persistent cough in the weeks before he died, according to his mother Lucia.

She said he was initially treated by medical staff inside the detention centre but was returned to his cell.

He was eventually taken to hospital for a scheduled surgery to remove an abscess on his buttocks, but died before he was able to have the operation.

His family were never told he was in hospital, learning of his death via a knock on the door from police.

“They’re the ones that notified us that he had passed,” his brother, Jose Ayala, told Sky News.

“We were not even aware that he was in the hospital or even had a scheduled surgery. Then we got a knock on our door a little after 5.30 one morning.

“I believe he would still be alive today if he was never detained. He got sick while in detention, and they did not seem to take care of him.”

Why was he detained?

Mr Ayala-Uribe’s death raises questions about the conditions inside the centre he was held in, and if a sudden surge of immigrants being detained by this administration has left the system stretched beyond breaking point.

He had moved to the US from Mexico with his family as a child.

He did have DACA – deferred action for childhood arrivals – status, granted to those who have arrived while under the age of 18. But this was removed in 2016, after he was convicted of drink-driving.

In August, he was arrested by immigration agents at a car wash in California where he had worked for 15 years.

He was held for five weeks at Adelanto, a privately owned, run-for-profit, immigrant detention centre. A lawyer for his family said he was, as far as they are aware, a healthy man before he was detained and had no medical need.

But Mr Ayala-Uribe’s mother, who was visiting him every eight days and speaking to him on the phone a couple of times a day, said she noticed him getting progressively unwell.

“He started with lots of fever,” Ms Ayala said. “He said they weren’t listening to him. The last time I saw him his face was drained, he told me he was not OK, he told me he couldn’t take it any more.”

Beginning to cry, wiping away tears, she added: “I feel powerless that I couldn’t do anything to help my son.

“I never imagined I was going to bury one of my sons. It feels terrible, they took a piece of my heart away.

“I would like something to change. If we cannot save him, at least we can save others that are still inside.”

ICE defends detention treatment

The cause of Mr Ayala-Uribe’s death is still under investigation.

Sky News requested comment from the company which owns the detention centre where he was held, and they deferred to ICE, the US immigration and customs enforcement agency.

In a statement, ICE said: “Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.

“At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergency care.”

The Trump administration says it’s targeting criminals and people in the US illegally. But campaigners say Mr Ayala-Uribe’s death should not be viewed in isolation.

Since Donald Trump took office, at least 15 people have died in immigration detention.

Democrat senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock wrote a letter to the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, asking for more information about these deaths.

The senators claimed 10 people had died between January and June, and that it was the highest rate in the first six months of any year publicly available.

Sarah Houston, a lawyer for the Immigrant Defenders Law Centre, claims immigrants are being mistreated in custody.

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“This administration’s main goal is to harm, to torture individuals and to try to force them out,” she said.

“The great increase we see in human rights abuses, in deaths, is a direct result of the administration’s decision to pack these detention centres as much as they can.”

Mr Ayala-Uribe’s funeral was held this week. Dozens of extended family and friends wore t-shirts bearing his face. A mariachi band played as his casket was lowered into the ground and his mother heaved with sobs.

As they absorb their loss, the effort to carry out the biggest mass deportation operation in US history continues.