Suicides by migrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have already reached a record level this year, according to a new report that also revealed more than 1,000 incidents of self-harm in detention centers across the United States.
The five suicides since January 1 follow four in 2025 and just two during all four years of the Biden administration, NBC News said in a report Thursday that cited ICE data. The recent rash of suicides is the most in any calendar year during the past two decades, NBC reported.
"If you see a spike, it indicates there is a much larger group of people suffering mental health challenges," Dr. Sanjay Basu, the lead author of an April research paper on deaths in ICE custody since 2004, told NBC.
In a statement to The Independent, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, denied any "spike in deaths" and said suicides in custody were "tragic and rare." The spokesperson said, "Consistent with data over the last decade, as of April 30, death rates in custody under the Trump administration are 0.009% of the detained population. As bed space has rapidly expanded, we have maintained a higher standard of care than most prisons that hold U.S. citizens — including providing access to proper medical care. For many illegal aliens this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives."
ICE currently has about 60,000 migrants in custody, up from approximately 43,000 during the Biden administration, with immigrants averaging 50 days in detention, up from 36 days, NBC said. In addition to reviewing ICE data on detainee suicides, NBC obtained records showing more than 1,000 incidents of self-inflicted injuries in six of the nation's largest detention centers over the last year, including 28 serious incidents. However, NBC noted the tally reflected a "likely undercount" of the actual total because it is based on partial data.
The nine suicides since the start of 2025 all involved men aged 19 to 45. Three had a history of criminal violence, four had nonviolent criminal records, and two had never been arrested, NBC reported. A suicide at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, involved Victor Manuel Diaz, who was arrested in Minneapolis on January 6 and died by suicide eight days later. His autopsy was performed by a military medical examiner, and his family is "deeply suspicious" and awaiting results of a second autopsy, lawyer Randall Kallinen told NBC.
The most recent incident occurred at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, where a three-day inspection last year by the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility revealed that an unspecified number of staffers had failed to complete annual training in "comprehensive suicide prevention," which the OPR called a "priority component." In its statement, DHS said, "When there are signs of a detainee being at risk for suicide, staff abides by strict prevention and intervention protocol to ensure the detainee's health and wellbeing is protected. ICE requires annual suicide prevention training, enforces 15-minute checks on suicide watch, and ensures that only clinicians — not custody staff — can remove someone from suicide watch."
In addition to reviewing ICE data, NBC requested 911 call logs from regions surrounding the country's 16 largest detention centers and received records from six jurisdictions in California, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, and Washington. Those records showed at least 39 calls about inmates with "acute psychosis" and an "altered medical state." One call involved a migrant who refused psychiatric medication and collapsed in his cell in the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, after not eating for eight days. Another migrant at the same facility, Gabriel Leiva, reportedly fought with staff who removed him from a pod with other detainees and asked to be killed while being handcuffed and shackled. After being placed in solitary confinement, he covered the window, kicked the door, and exhibited suicidal behavior. He later told responding police officers he did not understand why he was alone, according to a police report. An ICE spokesperson told NBC there was no longer anyone with Leiva's name at the facility.
If you are based in the USA and need mental health assistance, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org. In the UK, contact Samaritans at 116 123 or jo@samaritans.org.
