A British man has died while locked up in a US immigration detention centre, the Foreign Office has confirmed.
The 39-year-old-man died on Saturday at a facility in Florida, a source told BuzzFeed News.
In a statement from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the man was identified as Ben James Owen.
The preliminary cause of death is reported to be "self-inflicted strangulation".
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Our staff are in contact with the US authorities following the death of a British man in Florida.”
It is understood the UK authorities are in contact with the deceased man's wife.
In the US, authorities have begun an investigation into the circumstances of the death.
The man was being detained by the country's border agency, known as ICE custody, at the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny awaiting deportation proceedings.
Officials said Owen came to the US on a temporary visa in July and was later arrested on suspicion of felony aggravated stalking, felony false imprisonment, domestic assault, and violating the conditions of his pre-trial release.
People are put on ICE hold when removal proceedings against them begin. Many are entitled to be released after a removal hearing takes place and individuals can pay a bond in order to be released.
The number of people kept in ICE custody has soared under Donald Trump's administration.
Last year, 510,854 people were detained by ICE compared to 396,448 in 2018. There has also been an increase in the use of detention facilities, many of them springing up in the south.
The facilities, often run by private security firms, have been heavily criticised for their medical provision and mental health care.
There has been a spate of high-profile deaths and the latest marks the fifth person to die in ICE custody since October. Eight people in total have died in ICE custody during the 2019 fiscal year, reports said.
Hours after their report on the British man's death, BuzzFeed reported the death of a 63-year-old Cuban man. He would be the sixth man to have died while being held at an ICE detention centre.
