"At Least 10 Suicides Since Trump's Second Term... What Is Happening in ICE Detention Centers?"

AP Analysis: At Least 10 Deaths by Suicide in ICE Detention Since January Last Year
Seven Had No Record of Violent Crime
Authorities Under Scrutiny... "Detainee Protection Procedures Are Followed"

Since the launch of the second Donald Trump administration in January last year, at least 10 immigrants have died by suicide in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities.

On the 26th (local time), outside a facility in Newark, New Jersey, USA, a protester is being transported after clashing with ICE agents. This photo is provided to aid in understanding the article. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News.

On the 26th (local time), Yonhap News, citing the Associated Press (AP), reported that "the number of suicides among ICE detainees is increasing at an unprecedented rate since the agency was established in 2003." According to an analysis by AP of ICE data, autopsy reports, coroner findings, and police records, there have been seven suicides among detainees since last October, based on the fiscal year.

This marks the highest annual number of suicides in ICE history. Previously, the annual number of suicides in ICE detention was typically one or zero. AP noted, "Since the start of Trump’s second term, the detained population has surged to around 60,000, and the rate of suicides has far outpaced the increase in the number of detainees."

All 10 suicide victims were male, with an average age of 32. Of these, nine were Hispanic men from four countries, and the remaining one was a Chinese national. Most of the deceased had been in detention for less than a month, and some died within just a few days. Seven of the victims reportedly had no record of violent crime in the United States.

ICE agents are standing guard outside the detention center. Photo by AP Yonhap News

Bryan Layo Garzon, a 27-year-old from Colombia who died last April at the Phelps County Jail in Missouri, was a young man working as a painter and food delivery worker. After crossing the border with his family in 2023 and settling in St. Louis, he was gathering funds for a lawyer to contest a deportation order issued by the court in 2024 to fight for his right to stay. However, in March last year, he was arrested by police for using a stolen credit card—given by a friend—at an e-cigarette store. ICE classified him as "posing a low risk to public safety."

According to his family, Layo requested psychiatric treatment after being detained, but the treatment was delayed. When he was transferred to a hospital for headaches, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was sent to an isolation cell, where he was also cut off from his daily phone calls with his mother. On the fourth day of isolation, he slipped two handwritten notes through the door, pleading to speak with his mother. In the notes, he wrote, "You also have a family, and you know that they worry about you." Less than an hour after a guard collected the notes, he was found unconscious in his cell.

The case of Zhe Chaopeng, a 32-year-old Chinese national, was similar. He was found dead just five days after being transferred to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania last August. According to his attorney, during the five days he was in detention, he did not receive any mental health treatment, and there were no staff members at the facility who spoke Chinese, making communication impossible. Zhe Chaopeng’s family is reportedly demanding clarification of the cause of death and has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to obtain information.

U.S. President Donald Trump. Photo by AP News Agency

Experts point out that the surge in suicides at detention facilities is a sign that authorities are failing to properly manage the tens of thousands of immigrants caught up in the Trump administration's aggressive deportation policies. Dr. Homer Venters, who previously served as a consultant on preventing ICE detainee deaths, called it "horrific," criticizing, "Even when warning signs are detected during initial screenings, measures to reduce the risk of death are not being implemented."

Lauren Bis, acting Assistant Secretary of the DHS, told AP, "Suicides during ICE detention are extremely rare," adding, "Facility staff follow procedures to protect detainees who show signs of self-harm, and annual suicide prevention training is mandatory."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.