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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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A man who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has alleged in court filings that officials at an Indiana detention facility left him lying in a pool of blood after a seizure caused by missed epilepsy medication, and that correctional officers pepper-sprayed him after he returned from the hospital.
Andranik Grigoryan, a New York resident whom ICE detained at Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana from December 30 to May 15, filed one lawsuit against Centurion Health of Indiana, the prison's medical provider, and another against unidentified Indiana Department of Correction officers. The suits were filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
A spokesperson for ICE told Newsweek: "On May 17, 2023, ICE arrested Andranik Grigoryan, a criminal illegal alien from Uzbekistan, with a lengthy criminal rap sheet, which includes convictions for Possession of a Weapon, Illegal Use of Credit Cards, Driving Under the Influence of Liquor, Possession of Forged Documents, and Possession of Marijuana."
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ICE said that Grigoryan lawfully entered the country on May 10, 1999 on a visa. Grigoryan was ordered to be removed from the United States by an immigration judge on September 19, 2025, the agency said.
Newsweek contacted Centurion Health for comment. An Indiana Department of Correction spokesperson declined to provide a statement when approached by Newsweek.
...
ICE Medical Care Under Scrutiny
The Trump administration has faced mounting scrutiny over medical care inside ICE detention facilities, with advocates, attorneys and detainees alleging delays in treatment, missed medications and inadequate access to care.
The lawsuit against Centurion alleged that staffing shortages repeatedly disrupted detainees' access to medication and left Grigoryan without prescribed doses of Keppra, an anti-seizure medication he had relied on for years to control epilepsy. According to the complaint, medical staff was not present to dispense his morning medication on January 22, and he later suffered a severe seizure in his cell.
The complaint said Grigoryan hit his head during the seizure and was "lying in a pool of blood when correctional staff eventually came to his cell." He was taken to a local hospital, where a head wound was treated and closed before he was returned to Miami Correctional Facility later that day, according to the filing.
Grigoryan alleged that the missed medication was not an isolated incident. The lawsuit said there were other occasions when he did not receive prescribed doses of Keppra, including at least one period when staff told him the facility had run out of the medication.
ICE pushed back on the allegations, saying that "Grigoryan always had access to his medication."
"Any claims that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention facilities are FALSE. All detainees are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens," a spokesperson said.
The second lawsuit alleged that shortly after Grigoryan returned from the hospital, correctional officers ordered him to prepare for a transfer to another housing unit. The complaint said he was still suffering the effects of the seizure, had difficulty standing and asked officers why he was being moved. It said he did not threaten staff nor physically resist them.
According to the lawsuit, officers then opened a "cuffport" in the cell door and sprayed him with pepper spray. The complaint alleged that the spray struck him in the eyes, causing intense burning, coughing and shortness of breath. Officers then entered the cell, handcuffed him and moved him before he could wash the spray from his face and body, according to the filing. The lawsuit did not name the officers.
The lawsuit further alleged that Grigoryan was not provided a shower after being pepper-sprayed and instead attempted to wash himself in a sink after being taken to another cell.
Both lawsuits alleged violations of Grigoryan's rights under the 14th Amendment. The suit against Centurion said the company's staffing levels and practices denied him adequate medical care, while the lawsuit against the correctional officers alleged that the use of force was unjustified and unreasonable.
The ACLU of Indiana, which represents Grigoryan, said in a news release announcing the lawsuits that the former detainee was entitled to constitutionally adequate medical care and protection from unjustified force while held as a civil immigration detainee.
"What happened to Mr. Grigoryan was cruel and unconstitutional," Ken Falk, the legal director at the ACLU of Indiana, said in a news release. "He had gone nearly a year without a seizure, but staff failed to give him the medication that kept them under control. From then on, he had to worry every day that it would happen again. To then pepper-spray him while he was still injured is indefensible."
Detainee Deaths at Miami Correctional Facility
The lawsuits come amid mounting scrutiny of medical care for ICE detainees at Miami Correctional Facility, where two detainees have died this year, and allegations of delayed or inadequate treatment have drawn increasing attention. Cambodian national Lorth Sim, 59, died on February 16, about six weeks after being transferred to the prison. A former Centurion nurse told The Indianapolis Star that Sim, who had Type 2 diabetes, never received his prescribed metformin, while an independent autopsy commissioned by his family found significant levels of glucose in his blood. Six weeks later, Vietnamese national Tuan Van Bui, 55, died on April 1 while in ICE custody at the facility.
Update 07/31/26, 6:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from DHS.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Shakeema Edwards.
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