Immigration detainees under federal custody are ending their own lives at rates never before seen in the agency’s 20-year existence, exposing what specialists describe as critical breakdowns in medical care and supervision, a new investigation by The Associated Press reveals.
The probe discovered that no fewer than 10 individuals have committed suicide while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since President Donald Trump resumed office in January 2025 and directed the agency to expand arrests and removals. Seven of these fatalities have occurred since October, marking the highest number recorded in any fiscal year. Historically, ICE has documented only one suicide death annually, or sometimes none at all.
This surge in self-inflicted deaths outpaces the expansion of ICE’s detained population, representing almost 20% of the 51 individuals who have perished in agency custody since January 2025.
Lauren Bies, acting assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, characterized suicide deaths within ICE facilities as continuing to be “extremely rare.”
According to Bies, facility personnel adhere to established procedures designed to safeguard detainees displaying warning signs of self-harm, and ICE mandates yearly suicide prevention education. She stated that detainees are provided complete healthcare services, including psychological support.
The investigation’s findings show that nine of the ten deceased were Hispanic males, while one held Chinese citizenship. The victims averaged 32 years of age.
Most had spent fewer than 30 days in ICE custody, with some having been detained for only several days, based on AP’s analysis of agency records, medical examiner reports, coroner determinations and law enforcement files.
The victims included a 19-year-old worker from Mexico, a 27-year-old house painter from Colombia, and a 36-year-old restaurant employee from Nicaragua. Seven of the ten individuals had clean records regarding violent offenses.
These fatalities have exposed significant gaps in care and supervision throughout ICE’s network, where the detained population has grown by 50% to 60,000 individuals during Trump’s current presidency, the investigation determined.
Five deaths occurred at facilities operated by established ICE detention contractors, CoreCivic and the GEO Group. Another death happened at a facility run by an inexperienced contractor that ICE subsequently terminated. Three fatalities took place in sheriff-operated jails, while one occurred at a federal correctional institution.
“We are deeply saddened by and take very seriously the passing of any individual in our care,” stated CoreCivic spokesperson Brian Todd.
GEO Group spokesperson Christopher Ferreira explained that his company provides staff training on suicide prevention and works “to maintain a safe and secure environment in compliance with the standards and requirements set by the federal government.” County jail administrators chose not to provide statements.
The AP investigation determined that ICE detention facilities have consistently failed to meet standards in ways that breach the agency’s own requirements.
Personnel overlooked warning signs of psychological distress, postponed mental health interventions and failed to properly supervise detainees already identified as high-risk. They also allowed detainees access to items that could be used for self-harm.
In certain instances, troubled detainees were placed in solitary confinement, a practice that can worsen feelings of shame and powerlessness, according to specialists.
Three facilities where ICE detainees took their own lives have had difficulty meeting the agency’s mandate that detainees undergo medical and psychological evaluations within 12 hours of arrival, based on inspection documentation and jail records.
Specialists described the record number of suicides as evidence that officials are inadequately supervising the detention of tens of thousands of immigrants caught up in the Trump administration’s intensive removal efforts.
“Something is going profoundly wrong from any kind of public health or mental health perspective,” explained Dr. Sanjay Basu, a University of California-San Francisco epidemiologist who co-authored research documenting rising death and suicide rates among ICE detainees. “This is one of those alarming, sudden increases.”
Dr. Homer Venters, former chief medical officer of New York City jails and a specialist on ICE detainee deaths, described the suicide increase as terrifying.
The rise “reflects failures in how the system’s being operated, and particularly failures in how the first stages of coming into detention are happening so that people aren’t being assessed adequately,” he explained. “And then if that receiving screening picks up red flags, they’re not acted on in a way that reduces the risk of them having preventable death.”
The 2024 suicide of 27-year-old Brayan Rayo Garzon at the Phelps County Jail in Rolla, Missouri, demonstrates shortcomings in how facilities evaluate, monitor and treat such detainees, specialists noted.
The Colombian national had been arrested by police in St. Louis on a minor fraud charge and transferred to ICE custody. The agency transported him to the Missouri jail, which had recently begun accepting ICE detainees to increase revenue.
The facility failed to conduct an intake evaluation on Rayo for 35 hours. At that point, he displayed difficulty breathing, reported feeling anxious and asked for psychological treatment that was never provided.
Rayo became sick with COVID-19 in subsequent days, suffering from body aches, fever, chills and nausea. The jail scheduled him twice for routine mental health appointments, but both were cancelled—first due to staff concerns, then because of his illness.
Rayo was placed in medical isolation, confining him alone in a cell and preventing his nightly phone conversations with his mother. On his fourth day, he wrote notes in Spanish to English-speaking guards pleading to contact her.
Less than an hour later, he was discovered unconscious. He died the following day. An autopsy confirmed he had taken his own life.
