ICE detainees die by suicide at alarming rate since Trump returned to office, says report

The number of immigrant detainees dying by suicide in the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody has surged to an “alarming” level, according to an investigation by the Associated Press (AP), raising serious concerns over mental health care and detention conditions under President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation strategy. The investigation found that at least 10 ICE detainees, all men, have died by suicide since Trump returned to office in January 2025. The pace of deaths far exceeds the growth in the detainee population, based on a review of ICE data, autopsy reports, police records and coroner rulings.

Among the deaths was that of 27-year-old Brayan Rayo Garzon, who died in April 2025 while being held in isolation at a Missouri jail after contracting COVID-19. According to jail records reviewed by AP, Rayo had repeatedly sought mental health treatment while suffering from fever and chills.

The records also showed that detention staff prevented him from making his nightly phone call to his mother, citing measures intended to curb the spread of illness. In handwritten notes in Spanish, Rayo pleaded with guards to allow him to speak with her. “I feel in my heart that she’s very worried about me,” he wrote.

A guard reportedly collected the note and walked away. Less than an hour later, Rayo was found unconscious in his cell. An autopsy later ruled his death a suicide. Public health experts and jail oversight specialists told AP that the sudden increase in suicides points to serious failures in detention oversight and mental health care for migrants held in ICE facilities across the country.

Since October 2024, seven detainee deaths have officially been classified as suicides, already making it the deadliest fiscal year for suicides in ICE detention history. Historically, ICE has recorded either one or no suicide deaths annually.