Donald Trump’s administration is on pace to have one of the worst years for deaths in immigrant detention in decades following the recent deaths of a Canadian citizen and a Cuban man in federal custody.
A 75-year-old Cuban man died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, CBS News reports, citing a notice sent to Congress of the alleged death.
The agency has not publicly disclosed the death yet, though it often announces such fatalities at a delay.
His death would bring the total to at least 12 dead in ICE custody since Trump took office.
At least two of those deaths were suicides.
Critics accuse the administration of allowing conditions to worsen in a sprawling network of overburdened immigration detention centers as the White House pushes to deport millions of migrants in rapid time.
“It is worth noting that the Biden administration had a higher death rate (deaths per detainee count) through January - June 2024 than the current rate during January -June 2025,” Darren Eisenhauer, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in response to questions from The Independent.
The Independent has contacted the Cuban foreign ministry for comment.
All told, 15 people have reportedly died in detention this fiscal year, which includes the final months of Joe Biden’s administration.
At worst, there were 12 deaths in a single calendar year under the previous three administrations.
At the current pace, as many as 24 people could be dead by the end of this calendar year, a staggering figure, though deaths climbed even higher under George W. Bush, reaching 28 in fiscal year 2004.
Critics say ICE, in an effort to arrest some 3,000 people a day, is straining the nation’s capacity to safely house immigrants slated for removal.
More than 56,397 migrants were in immigration detention as of mid-June, or about 140 percent of the agency’s ostensible capacity to hold them.
“These are the worst conditions I have seen in my 20-year career,” Paul Chavez, litigation and advocacy director at Americans for Immigrant Justice in Florida, recently told The New York Times. “Conditions were never great, but this is horrendous.”
The most recent deaths include Johnny Noviello, 49, of Canada, who was found unresponsive in a Miami detention center on June 23, and Jesus Molina-Veya, 45, who died on June 7 in ICE custody in Atlanta.
The cause of Molina-Veya’s death is under investigation. Authorities have noted the 45-year-old Mexican national was found unconscious with with a ligature around his neck.
The Canadian government has demanded answers in Noviello’s death.
"Canadian consular officials are urgently seeking more information from U.S. officials,” Anita Anand, Canada's minister of foreign affairs, wrote on X.
Immigration and border enforcement already make up two-thirds of federal law enforcement spending, and the Trump administration’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” spending package could direct another $168 billion towards immigration and border law enforcement over the next five years, an unprecedented increase.
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