U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reported the 18th loss of life of an individual in its custody within the first 4 months of 2026, putting the company on tempo to surpass its all-time annual report for detainee deaths.
On Friday, ICE filed a congressional notification informing Congress of the loss of life of Denny Adan Gonzalez, a 33-year-old Cuban immigrant who was discovered unresponsive Tuesday night time in his cell on the Stewart Detention Middle in Lumpkin, Georgia, ICE mentioned. His loss of life was first reported by Andrew Free, an unbiased journalist and legal professional who runs a Substack titled “#DetentionKills.”
The company mentioned the suspected reason behind loss of life is suicide, although the official trigger stays underneath investigation. Gonzalez was reportedly pronounced lifeless lower than an hour after he was discovered. Stewart is operated by CoreCivic, a personal jail firm that contracts with ICE.
CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin instructed Reuters that medical employees responded promptly and started lifesaving measures. Gustin added that “We’re deeply saddened by and take very severely the ​passing of any particular person in our care.”
ICE recorded 31 detainee deaths in 2025, a two-decade excessive that just about matched the company’s report of 32 deaths in 2004. With 18 deaths already reported by way of April, 2026 is now on tempo to exceed each.
ICE mentioned Gonzalez first entered the USA at a Texas port of entry in Might 2019, was deemed “inadmissible,” and was deported in January 2020. The company mentioned he reentered the nation in 2022 and was later arrested in Charlotte, North Carolina, on assault and home violence fees earlier than ICE took him into custody in January.
The loss of life provides stress to an company already going through intense scrutiny over detention circumstances underneath President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Reuters reported that ICE detention has grown from about 40,000 individuals when Trump took workplace in 2025 to about 60,000, whereas ICE price range paperwork mentioned the company goals to detain a mean of 99,000 immigrants in fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
CBS Information reported that the company’s detention inhabitants surpassed 70,000 earlier this 12 months earlier than declining, however remained greater than underneath any prior administration. The outlet additionally discovered that 2025 had the best ICE custody loss of life fee since 2020, when COVID-19 hit detention facilities.
Gonzalez’s loss of life marks the most recent incident at Stewart, the agricultural Georgia facility that has lengthy drawn criticism from attorneys, lawmakers, and federal investigators over allegations involving medical care and solitary confinement.
The Guardian reported that Gonzalez is the fourth individual to die by suicide inside Stewart. “As tragedies mount at Stewart, we renew our name for this lethal jail to be shut down,” Azadeh Shahshahani, authorized and advocacy director of Venture South, instructed The Guardian. “As a substitute of taking steps to dismantle this jail, ICE is doubling down.”