Alarm raised at mounting death toll among detainees at US immigration facilities

Deaths occurring in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) have reached at least 16 since January amid increasing mass detention across the country and growing concerns over conditions.

- Maya Yang

The facility in California where another Ice detainee died in custody, taking the total since January to 15

On Sunday, Ismael Ayala-Uribe, a 39-year-old Mexican national and former “Dreamer” - those given protections after being brought to the US as undocumented children in the past - died after being held at an Ice facility in Adelanto, California, according to a statement from the federal agency.

Ayala-Uribe’s death marked the 15th detention death officially reported by Ice, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.

However, an incident then followed in Texas on Wednesday when a detainee was killed by a gunman and two others were wounded at an Ice facility in Dallas, even though prosecutors said the suspect was targeting Ice, not detainees.

Ayala-Uribe’s death had followed a 42-year-old Honduran national who died last week while held by Ice in Nassau county, New York.