{"id":28342,"date":"2025-09-23T15:12:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T19:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&#038;p=28342"},"modified":"2025-09-23T15:12:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T19:12:04","slug":"sens-ossoff-reverend-warnock-press-trump-administration-over-deaths-in-ice-custody","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sens-ossoff-reverend-warnock-press-trump-administration-over-deaths-in-ice-custody\/","title":{"rendered":"Sens. Ossoff, Reverend Warnock Press Trump Administration Over Deaths in ICE Custody"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Washington D.C.\u2013<\/strong>&nbsp;U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are urging the Trump Administration to address deaths in ICE custody in Georgia.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock cited the delayed reporting of two deaths in ICE custody in Georgia and requested information on agency oversight of detention facilities and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe write with serious alarm regarding the rise in the number of deaths in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody nationwide. We are especially concerned by the deaths of two individuals in ICE custody in Georgia this year. We request that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE immediately provide information about these individuals\u2019 deaths and about the Trump administration\u2019s plan to prevent further fatalities,\u201d&nbsp;<strong>the Senators wrote.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/detain\/detainee-death-reporting\">ICE\u2019s Detainee Death Reporting website<\/a>, ten people died in ICE custody in the first half of 2025, the highest total for the same period since 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Georgia, according to reporting,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theappeal.org\/ice-death-in-custody-jorge-avellaneda-delgado\/\">Abelardo Avellaneda-Delgado<\/a>, 68, died on May 5 during transport from the Lowndes County Jail to Stewart Detention Center by TransCor, a CoreCivic subsidiary contracted by ICE. His family has said he had no prior health conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On June 7, according to reporting,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/doclib\/foia\/reports\/ddrJesusMolinaVeya.pdf\">Jesus Molina-Veya<\/a>, 45, died at Stewart Detention Center after being found unconscious in his cell. ICE reports indicate a ligature was found around his neck. His death is the thirteenth at Stewart since 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cICE has reported fourteen deaths in custody since January 2025. There have been additional public reports of a fifteenth detainee death, which ICE has not yet confirmed. Ten of these deaths occurred between January and June\u2014the highest number of deaths in the first six months of any year listed in ICE\u2019s public records. DHS must address safety and conditions within detention facilities in Georgia and across the country to prevent more deaths in its custody,\u201d&nbsp;<strong>the Senators continued.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. Ossoff continues working to strengthen congressional oversight and investigate abuses in U.S. detention centers, prisons, and jails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last month, Sen. Ossoff\u2019s new&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250721_Pregnancy_Report_v7.pdf\">investigation<\/a>&nbsp;uncovered hundreds of credible reports of abuse in immigration detention in Georgia and across the country, including report of abuse of&nbsp;pregnant&nbsp;women&nbsp;and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2022, Sen. Ossoff led an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/watch-psi-chairman-ossoff-unveils-results-of-18-month-bipartisan-investigation-into-medical-mistreatment-of-women-in-u-s-detention\/\">18-month bipartisan investigation<\/a>&nbsp;into medical mistreatment of&nbsp;women&nbsp;in U.S. detention, which uncovered that female detainees at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia were subjected to \u201cinvasive, and often unnecessary gynecological procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2024, Sen. Ossoff&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sen-ossoff-presses-biden-administration-to-address-lack-of-child-welfare-professionals-at-southern-border\/\">launched an inquiry<\/a>&nbsp;with U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) into delays deploying licensed child welfare professionals to assist children who are temporarily in U.S. Southern Border facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also in 2022, Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.warnock.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/senators-reverend-warnock-ossoff-press-homeland-security-secretary-mayorkas-for-answers-on-reported-abuse-of-migrant-women-human-rights-violations-at-georgia-ice-facility\/\">pressed the Biden Administration<\/a>&nbsp;for answers about allegations of sexual assault against&nbsp;women&nbsp;at the ICE Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/25.09.23-Deaths-in-Custody-Letter.pdf\">Click here<\/a>&nbsp;to read Sens. Ossoff and Warnock\u2019s inquiry to DHS.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"># # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington D.C.\u2013&nbsp;U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are urging the Trump Administration to address deaths in ICE custody in Georgia.&nbsp; In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock cited the delayed reporting of two deaths in ICE custody in Georgia and [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28342","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/28342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/28342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28343,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/28342\/revisions\/28343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}