U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday reported the 18th death of an individual in its custody so far this year, putting the agency on track to record a new all-time high in detainee deaths if the grim trend continues.
A 33-year-old man from Cuba died at an ICE detention center in Georgia on Tuesday, the agency said in a notification to Congress and a public press release. ICE said Denny Adan Gonzalez was found unresponsive in his cell at the privately operated Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, late Tuesday. The agency described the suspected cause of death as suicide and said its investigation is ongoing.
The reported suicide is the 18th ICE detainee death in the first four months of 2026. Last year, ICE recorded 31 detainee deaths, a two-decade high that nearly surpassed the all-time record set in 2004, when 32 deaths were reported.
ICE said Gonzalez first entered the U.S. in May 2019 at an official port of entry along the Texas border, but that he was deported the following year. The agency said he reentered the country illegally in 2022 and was subsequently released by U.S. immigration officials.
In December, ICE said Gonzalez was arrested by local officials in Charlotte, North Carolina, on assault and domestic violence charges, prompting the federal agency to take him into custody in January. He had been in ICE custody ever since, ICE added.
The sharp increase in ICE detainee deaths over the past year has coincided with the Trump administration’s nationwide deportation blitz. The controversial crackdown has led ICE to hold record numbers of detainees in its custody while it tries to deport them.
Earlier this year, ICE’s detention population soared to more than 70,000 people. That number has decreased since the Trump administration scaled back its aggressive operations in major cities like Minneapolis amid bipartisan outcry. But the detention population still stood around 60,000 last month, higher than under any prior administration.
Even after accounting for the number of people in detention each year, 2025 had the highest death rate — 5.6 people per 10,000 detainees — since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, according to a CBS News analysis of government data.
Those who have died in ICE custody this year include an Afghan refugee who worked alongside American military forces in Afghanistan and a Mexican teenager. The agency said the detainees had been previously arrested by local officials on an array of charges including theft, fraud and resisting an officer.
As the Trump administration has greatly expanded ICE’s detention apparatus, reports of substandard conditions, including overcrowding, inadequate medical care and insufficient food, have emerged throughout the country.
ICE has consistently denied allegations of poor conditions in its detention facilities, and when it announces new detainee deaths, the agency issues similar defenses of its treatment of those in custody.
“ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments,” the agency said Friday. “Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout their stay.”
