Four people held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody died over a span of four days, according to a series of agency press releases.
The deaths add to a growing toll in 2025, which advocacy researchers say is shaping up to be one of the deadliest years on record for fatalities in ICE detention, with at least 32 reported.
“With this mass increase in people that have been put into the system, that access to medical care has been extremely limited in at least the facilities that we’ve looked at,” Belkis Wille, Associate Director in the Crisis, Conflict, and Arms Division of the Human Rights Watch, told Newsweek in a phone interview on December 19.
Why It Matters
The recent deaths are intensifying questions about medical care, oversight, and accountability inside ICE detention facilities. Advocacy organizations and progressive lawmakers have long raised concerns about conditions in ICE-run centers, including allegations of medical neglect and mistreatment.
Detention conditions have drawn heightened attention in recent years amid reports of overcrowding and delays in accessing timely medical services. Under the incumbent administration, federal agents have increased immigration arrests as part of an effort to deliver on President Donald Trump’s promise of mass removals.
What To Know
Jean Wilson Brutus (41), Haiti — Dec. 12, 2025 (Newark, New Jersey)
ICE said Brutus died at University Hospital in Newark following a medical emergency at Delaney Hall Detention Facility. According to the agency, he entered ICE custody on December 11, 2025, after being arrested for criminal mischief. Local Emergency Medical Services responded, transported him to the hospital, and he was pronounced dead. ICE said Brutus entered the United States illegally on June 20, 2023, and was paroled pending immigration proceedings.
Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir (46), Eritrea — Dec. 14, 2025 (Philipsburg, Pennsylvania)
ICE said Abdulkadir died at Moshannon Valley Processing Center after reporting chest pain while in custody. Facility medical staff performed CPR and contacted local EMS, which continued care and pronounced him deceased, the agency said. ICE stated he had been in custody for 215 days while awaiting a hearing before the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Pennsylvania State Police and the Clearfield County coroner are investigating, according to ICE.
Nenko Stanev Gantchev (56), Bulgaria — Dec. 15, 2025 (Baldwin, Michigan)
ICE said Gantchev was found unresponsive on his cell floor during a routine check at North Lake Processing Center. Facility medical staff initiated CPR and contacted local EMS, which continued care, the agency said. ICE said the cause of death is under investigation and that natural causes are suspected. The agency also stated Gantchev had previously been granted lawful permanent resident status and was awaiting removal proceedings when he died.
Delvin Francisco Rodriguez (39), Nicaragua — Dec. 15, 2025 (Natchez, Mississippi)
Rodriguez died at Merit Health Natchez, Mississippi, according to an ICE press release. ICE said Rodriguez had previously undergone a test that failed to determine brain function and that, in line with his family’s wishes, medical staff removed him from a ventilator. ICE stated he was arrested in September 2025 and transferred to Adams County Detention Center. He was hospitalized on December 4, 2025, after a medical emergency and was later pronounced dead, the agency said.
ICE said the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility review every in-custody death to assess whether detention standards were followed.
Andrew Free, a former immigration and civil rights lawyer who researches deaths in ICE custody, has recorded 32 cases.
The Department of Homeland Security has maintained that migrants receive the best healthcare of their lives while in ICE custody. “That claim flies in the face of what we’ve seen for people being held in ICE custody in the facilities that we’ve looked at since January 20,” Wille said.
What People Are Saying
Setareh Ghandehari, advocacy director at Detention Watch Network, previously told Newsweek: “Trump’s cruel mass detention expansion is exacerbating the inhumane conditions that are inherent to ICE’s detention system and have been well documented for decades. Over the last nine months, there have been increasing reports of death, medical neglect, isolation, overcrowding, lack of food, and rampant transfers that cut people off from their loved ones and support networks.”
Democratic Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal told Newsweek earlier this month: “There’s no standards of care, there’s no accountability, and that is very different than even our federal prisons, where there is a different level of accountability, despite the fact that [there are] lots of problems there too.”
ICE wrote in a press release published on December 18: “Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay. All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health intake screenings within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility; a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility; access to medical appointments; and 24-hour emergency care. At no time during detention is a detained alien denied emergency care.”
What’s Next
Federal law requires DHS to report each death in its custody to Congress. Lawmakers, including Jayapal, are calling for stronger accountability measures and clearer standards of care, arguing that tighter oversight is needed to prevent further fatalities.
