Truthout: At Least 59 Died in ICE Custody Since Trump’s Second Term
At least 59 people have died in U.S. immigration detention since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, marking the highest mortality rate in more than a decade, truthout reported. Medical neglect drove many of these fatalities, including four out of five recent deaths at the Adelanto Processing Center in California.
The Fatal Path at Adelanto
Ismael Ayala-Uribe, a 39-year-old DACA recipient who worked for 15 years at a Southern California car wash, fell ill at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in September 2025. He had lost his temporary protection from deportation following a 2015 driving under the influence conviction. Inside the facility, which is operated by the private prison company GEO Group, Ayala-Uribe reported a severe fever, chills, and intense pain from an infected abscess.
Medical staff initially ignored his requests for assistance and later gave him Tylenol without examining the source of his pain. He developed septic shock and died at 2:30 in the morning after being transferred to an emergency room. His family in Orange County received no direct notification of his death from federal immigration authorities; local police officers delivered the news to his mother and brother later that morning.
GEO Group Profits from Immigration Detention
The Adelanto facility sits on the edge of the California desert and operates at maximum capacity. Detainees have staged hunger strikes and filed class-action lawsuits over substandard conditions. Investigative reporting by Al Jazeera English’s Fault Lines documentary series, titled Dying in Detention, revealed that GEO Group has generated over a billion dollars in profits from immigration detention while contributing more than a million dollars to support Donald Trump’s reelection campaign.
Federal oversight structures face intense scrutiny due to overlapping financial and political ties. David Venturella, a former high-level executive at GEO Group, assumed a leadership role as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, a political action committee linked to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan received a $250,000 contribution from the private prison operator.
Purchasing the Facility While Retaining Private Operations
The Department of Homeland Security recently purchased two immigration detention centers in Adelanto for $950 million. Despite the federal buyout, GEO Group will continue to operate the facility.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement no longer requires facilities to publicly report deaths of individuals held in custody for up to 30 days after intake. This change leaves families and independent monitors with incomplete data regarding the true toll of medical failures behind detention walls.
