Colombian Migrant Dies Under ICE Custody In Missouri While Waiting For Deportation

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A Colombian migrant was found dead under ICE custody in a Missouri jail while waiting for deportation, the agency informed.

Concretely, Brayan Rayo-Garzon was found unresponsive at the Phelps County Jail in Rolla, Missouri, on April 8. He was waiting to be deported since June 2024 when an immigration judge ordered his removal, ICE added in a release announcing the death.

Rayo-Garzon had previously been arrested for shoplifting and was again detained in March for credit card fraud, St. Louis police said.

ICE spokeswoman Alethea Smock told press that there is no additional information regarding the death.

"Consistent with ICE protocols, the appropriate components were notified about the death, including the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility," the agency added in a statement. "Additionally, ICE notified the next of kin."

ICE has been repeatedly accused of mistreating migrants to the point of dying. In fact, according to an investigation conducted by the American Civil Rights Union, about 95 percent of the people that lost their lives while being detained could have been saved with better medical care.

The report found multiple flaws on ICE's current oversight and accountability mechanisms regarding death in detention centers. They have allowed the destruction of evidence, omitted key inculpatory facts and even failed to interview key witnesses. The report also found out that ICE detention centers lack standardized criteria for autopsies and autopsy reports in cases of detention deaths leading to inconsistent and potentially unreliable results.

Out of the six health experts that took part of the investigation, they concluded that out of the 52 deaths between that five-year period, 49 of them were preventable or possibly preventable if appropriate medical care had been provided. Only three deaths were deemed not preventable.

There is no evidence that the death of Rayo-Garzon, however, was a result of mistreatment from authorities.