Four ICE detainee deaths in four days spark alarm as arrests grow

Four people in immigration detention have died over a four-day period this month, increasing concern among advocates and some members of Congress over detention conditions.

One death took place Dec. 12, another two took place on Dec. 14 and the fourth on Dec. 15, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement news releases.

“Four detainee deaths in one week is a red-hot crisis,” said Eunice Cho, senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project. “There is no question in my mind that this represents a clear deterioration of medical care and the worsening conditions in ICE detention.”

The recent deaths bring total detainee deaths to 30 in 2025, the highest number since 2004, when 32 people died in ICE custody. This year’s total includes two detainees who were killed after a shooting at a Dallas ICE facility. At least two others died this year, according to ICE, but not in immigration detention.

Nearly 66,000 people are in detention, according to ICE data, a record high, and the Trump administration is seeking to spend $45 billion to expand immigration detention after receiving an infusion of cash from Congress.

The rise in detention deaths also coincides with more limited oversight measures. The Trump administration said in March that it would close two watchdog agencies that oversaw detention centers and investigated detainee complaints. DHS later reversed course, but lawyers for immigrants and nonprofit advocacy groups assert that deteriorating conditions at some locations are festering unchecked.

ICE recently claimed in a news release that “in-custody deaths this past year average less than 1% — this is the lowest in ICE history.” ICE did not provide additional details for how it reached that number, but immigrant advocates emphasize that detention should not be punitive and have expressed alarm at the rising tally of deaths, which has surpassed annual detention deaths during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the four most recent deaths.

Deborah Fleischaker, who was acting chief of staff at ICE under President Joe Biden, said the increase in the number of deaths raises questions about the quality of detention but also added “it doesn’t provide you the full answer without knowing more.”

The four detainees who recently died were Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year old Haitian immigrant held at Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark; Nenko Stanev Gantchev, a 56-year-old Bulgarian immigrant who died at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan; Delvin Francisco Rodriguez, a 39-year-old Nicaraguan detainee in Natchez, Mississippi; and Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, a 46-year-old Eritrean immigrant who died at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. ICE said two of the men died of natural causes, while the other two had medical complications.

Several of the deaths this year occurred within days of people being taken into ICE custody, raising concern about “the level of trauma that people are experiencing from the point of arrests,” Jennifer Ibañez Whitlock, senior policy counsel at the National Immigration Law Center, said in an interview earlier this month.

Brutus entered ICE custody on Dec. 11 after he was released from Union County Jail, according to an agency press release. Brutus had been arrested on charges of property damage, the agency said. He died a day later, after a medical emergency.

Congressional Democrats, including Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration integrity, security and enforcement, have called for greater oversight of the detention facilities.

“Within 15 minutes today, I got two back-to-back notifications of deaths at ICE facilities. 28 people have died in ICE custody since Trump took office,” she posted on social media this week. “These facilities are overcrowded & are putting their own profits over health and safety. We need oversight & accountability NOW.” Ninety minutes later, Jayapal said she received two more death notifications.

In a X post, Murray described the deaths as “appalling & unacceptable.”

Lawsuits have alleged that detainees are being held in overcrowded conditions, sometimes without beds, showers, adequate medical support or quality food.