Overview
- ICE reported four detainee deaths between Dec. 12 and 15 at facilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Mississippi, with two following medical emergencies and two listed as suspected natural causes.
- Those who died were identified as Jean Wilson Brutus, 41, at Newark’s Delaney Hall after one day in custody; Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, 46, at Moshannon Valley after reporting chest pain; Nenko Stanev Gantchev, 56, at North Lake after being found unresponsive; and Delvin Francisco Rodriguez, 39, at a Natchez hospital after earlier hospitalization.
- At least 30 people have died in ICE detention so far in 2025, the most in roughly two decades, during a year when the detained population rose to about 66,000.
- Lawmakers and local officials are demanding transparent, independent probes, with Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Delia C. Ramirez seeking answers in Michigan and Sen. Cory Booker urging Delaney Hall’s closure in New Jersey.
- Advocates cite overcrowding, strained medical staffing, and delayed public notices—including a weeklong gap before ICE posted Brutus’s death—at privately run sites reopened this year, while ICE and DHS say comprehensive care is provided and each death is under review by OIG and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility.