Crisis at ICE Centers Raises Alarms Over Suicides and Self-Harm
Posted on05/27/26 at 07:18
- Suicides Increase in ICE
- Health Crises Rise
- Failures at Centers Denounced
Calls to 911 from immigrant detention centers in the United States reflect an increase in mental health crises and serious cases of self-harm.
Documents obtained by NBC News reveal more than 1,000 emergency calls made over the past year from at least six detention centers in Washington, California, Georgia, Michigan, and Texas.
Among the reported incidents were suicide attempts, cuts to the wrists, ingestion of cleaning chemicals, and people who swallowed razor blades.
The increase in suicides and self-harm coincides with the expansion of the immigration policy promoted by President Donald Trump.
ICE currently holds nearly 60,000 people in detention, compared with approximately 34,000 recorded during the Biden administration.
Detainees are also spending more time in custody, with a current average of 50 days compared with 36 days previously.
Emergency Calls Reveal Crisis Inside ICE Centers
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According to Telemundo, one of the cases occurred four days before Christmas at an ICE detention center in South Texas.
A 33-year-old pregnant immigrant began hitting her head against a wall.
Guards attempted to take her to a hospital, but she refused.
They later called 911.
Records obtained by NBC News show at least 28 serious incidents related to self-harm.
Authorities documented cases of detainees drinking cleaning chemicals or cutting their wrists.
Other reports include people with “acute psychosis” and severe changes in mental state.
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In Michigan, one detainee stopped taking psychiatric medication, stopped eating for eight days, and ended up fainting in his cell.
Another immigrant, identified as Gabriel Leiva, was isolated after becoming defiant inside the North Lake Michigan ICE detention center.
According to police documents, Leiva asked guards to kill him.
He later used his clothing to make a rope and attempt suicide.
Guards managed to intervene and called 911.
Suicides in Custody Reach Record Level
So far in 2025, five deaths by suicide have been recorded in ICE detention centers.
The figure already represents the highest level in two decades, and the year is not yet halfway over.
During the four years of the previous administration, two suicides were reported.
According to ICE data, the total number of deaths in custody tripled compared with the previous year.
Dr. Sanjay Basu, an epidemiologist and physician at the University of California, San Francisco, said self-harm is a sign that something “is going very wrong.”
“If you see an increase, this indicates that there is a much larger group of people suffering from mental health problems,” he said.
Basu also noted that many of these deaths would be “highly preventable” if ICE properly followed suicide prevention protocols.
The rules call for early evaluations and frequent monitoring of people with suicidal tendencies.
However, recent inspections revealed serious failures at some centers.
At Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, inspectors found that not all staff had completed suicide prevention training.
Reports also show that some detainees considered at risk were not monitored every 15 minutes as required by ICE standards.
In some cases, checks took up to 125 minutes.
Fewer Inspections and More Questions About Conditions
As the number of detainees increased, inspections decreased.
At least four offices within the Department of Homeland Security carried out inspections at ICE detention centers, but two were dismantled.
Democratic Representative Mike Levin said he was recently unable to speak freely with detainees during an unannounced visit to Otay Mesa Detention Center.
According to him, new policies require the names of detainees to be submitted in advance, along with signed authorization forms.
“So they are simply making it harder for us,” Levin told NBC News.
Immigrant advocacy groups have spent years denouncing poor conditions in these centers.
Criticism includes overcrowding, low temperatures, lack of hygiene, and long periods of uncertainty over possible releases.
More than 20,000 people currently detained by ICE have no criminal records other than immigration violations.
During Trump’s second term, nine suicides have been recorded, all involving men between the ages of 19 and 45.
Two of them had no criminal record.
All cases appear to have involved hanging.
ICE said in a statement that the agency maintains strict prevention and intervention protocols.
“Staff follow a strict prevention and intervention protocol to ensure that the health and welfare of the detainee is protected,” a spokesperson said.
However, DHS declined to answer specific questions about the reported cases and did not comment on the record increase in suicides or the broader mental health crisis in ICE detention centers.