Family seeks answers after Costa Rican deportee returned in vegetative state dies

The family of a Costa Rican man who was deported from the United States in a vegetative state and died shortly after returning home is urgently seeking answers from authorities about his care while in detention. Randall Gamboa Esquivel, who his family say left Costa Rica in good health, crossed the US‑Mexico border in December 2024 and was detained for unlawful re‑entry after previously living in the US undocumented.

He was held at the Webb County detention centre in Laredo and then Port Isabel in south Texas. Nearly 10 months later, in September 2025, the Trump administration flew the 52‑year‑old to San José on an air ambulance; he never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead about five weeks later at a hospital in Pérez Zeledón.

Medical records show a transfer request from Port Isabel to Valley Baptist Medical Center on 23 June and an IHSC document saying he was hospitalised with an “altered mental status” and had been taking antipsychotic and antidepressant medications. Relatives told the Guardian they denied Gamboa had a history of mental illness.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the US Department of Homeland Security, said in an email that “medical professionals diagnosed him with unspecified psychosis and hospitalized him at Valley Baptist Hospital so he could get proper mental health and medical care,” and outlined ICE screening and care procedures.

Key Topics

World, Randall Gamboa, Ice, Valley Baptist, Port Isabel Detention, Webb County Detention