Family seeks answers after Mexican man dies in ICE custody
Jose Guadalupe Ramos, 52, died at California’s Adelanto detention center as ICE custody deaths draw scrutiny from families, experts and Mexico.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
4 min read
Jose Guadalupe Ramos, a 52-year-old Mexican man, died in March while held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, prompting his family to accuse detention officials of failing to protect him. His death has intensified scrutiny of medical care in U.S. immigration detention as ICE reports 19 in-custody deaths so far this year.
Ramos’s longtime partner, Antonia Tovar, told Al Jazeera she spoke with him by Zoom at about 5:30 p.m. in late March and expected another call that evening. According to Al Jazeera, Ramos was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m. after about a month in the facility.
Tovar said she and Ramos had been together since they were teenagers in Guanajuato, Mexico, and moved to the United States in the mid-1990s. She told Al Jazeera she believes officials at Adelanto could have prevented his death.
Death toll under scrutiny
ICE’s website lists 19 deaths in custody in 2026, according to Al Jazeera. Sharon Dolovich, a UCLA law professor who runs the Behind Bars Data Project, told the outlet her team is working to calculate whether deaths are rising relative to the number of people detained.
Al Jazeera reported that at least 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025, up from 11 in 2024. A Syracuse University database estimates that more than 405,700 people have been booked into ICE detention since President Donald Trump began his second term, according to Al Jazeera.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, disputed that deaths have spiked. A DHS spokesperson told Al Jazeera that death rates in custody under the Trump administration are 0.009 percent of the detained population and said detention centers provide medical care, meals, water and access to family members and lawyers.
ICE has been expanding detention capacity through contracts with private companies and large facilities, according to Al Jazeera. A document released earlier this year said the agency intended to have 92,600 detention beds by the end of fiscal year 2026.
Questions about care at Adelanto
Ramos was arrested during an immigration operation in Torrance, California, on February 23 and taken to Adelanto, northeast of Los Angeles, according to Al Jazeera. ICE records cited by the outlet show that officials documented his diabetes and hypertension when he arrived.
Before detention, Ramos took daily medication for his conditions, according to Al Jazeera. Tovar said he complained about conditions inside Adelanto, including clothing he believed was not properly washed and food she considered inadequate; she said the family sent him money so he could buy food.
A January lawsuit cited by Al Jazeera alleged mold, inadequate medical care and widespread illness at Adelanto. Jesus Arias, the family’s lawyer, told Al Jazeera that Ramos’s medical conditions required regular care and that the family believes conditions at the facility contributed to his death.
ICE said in a news release that Ramos was found unresponsive in his bunk on March 25, that staff tried to revive him and that he was taken to a nearby medical center, where he died. GEO Group, the private company that operates Adelanto, did not answer Al Jazeera’s questions and instead referred the outlet to the ICE release, which said staff immediately called on-site medical personnel.
Arias told Al Jazeera the family believes hospital transport was seriously delayed and said the family is conducting a forensic investigation while considering a civil medical-negligence case against GEO Group and ICE.
Mexico presses for investigation
Ramos is one of at least 14 Mexican nationals who have died in ICE detention since Trump returned to office, according to U.S. government figures cited by Al Jazeera. Media reports put the number at 15, the outlet said.
Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced conditions in ICE detention centers in April as incompatible with human rights standards and the protection of life, according to Al Jazeera. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has called for a full investigation and directed consular officials in the U.S. to increase visits to ICE facilities from weekly to daily.
Tovar told Al Jazeera she now fears leaving home because she is undocumented and worries she could also be detained. She said she is considering returning to Mexico, but also wants to keep pursuing accountability for Ramos’s death.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.