A Mexican citizen died in ICE custody. Now his family is demanding answers

Jose Guadalupe Ramos is one of 19 people who have died in ICE detention this year. Experts say he's part of a growing trend.

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Antonia Tovar last spoke to her partner of almost four decades at 5:30 one afternoon in late March.

Over the video app Zoom, Jose Guadalupe Ramos told her he’d call back a few hours later. Instead, at 9:30pm, he was pronounced dead.

Ramos, 52, was inside the Adelanto immigration detention centre, a facility in California where he had been held for a month.

His death is part of a rising number taking place in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sparking outrage from families and international cries for accountability.

At least 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the year United States President Donald Trump took office for a second term.

That marks a 290 percent increase over 2024, when only 11 deaths were reported. Experts say this year's rate is on track to be even higher.

Tovar is among those calling for accountability. She and Ramos had been together since they were 13, having grown up in the same neighbourhood in Guanajuato, Mexico. They came to the US in the mid-1990s in search of a better life.

“I'm missing my other half. We dreamed of getting old together, taking care of each other, of having our grandchildren,” Tovar told Al Jazeera from her home in California.

She blames officials at Adelanto for failing to prevent her husband's death.

"They could have saved him," Tovar said. "They killed him because, rather than helping him, they didn’t do anything."

Widow Antonia Tovar comforts her daughter Gloria Ramos at a news conference in Los Angeles, California, on March 30 [Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images]Widow Antonia Tovar comforts her daughter Gloria Ramos at a news conference in Los Angeles, California, on March 30 [Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images]

Ramos's death comes as Trump forges ahead with his campaign for mass deportation.

Since Trump began his second term, a database at Syracuse University estimates that more than 405,700 people have been booked into ICE detention.

Trump's administration has even set quotas for the number of daily arrests immigration agents should make, in an effort to execute "the largest deportation operation in American history".

Sharon Dolovich, a professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), is among the experts tracking deaths in ICE custody.

She directs the Behind Bars Data Project, the first public data set about deaths in ICE detention.

In addition to collating the numbers of individuals who have died in custody, her team is trying to work out if more people are dying relative to the total number being held.

“That process of calculating mortality rates takes a little longer because we have to get the denominator data," she said. "My team is in the process of getting it."

Dolovich, however, projects that this year's total number of deaths is likely to outpace last year's. ICE's website has reported 19 in-custody deaths so far in 2026.

But the Trump administration has rejected the premise that ICE-related deaths are on the rise.

In response to a request for comment from Al Jazeera, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said, “There has been NO spike in deaths."

"Consistent with data over the last decade, death rates in custody under the Trump administration are 0.009% of the detained population," the spokesperson added.

GEO Group, a Florida-based prison facility operator, runs the ICE detention centre in Adelanto, California [File: Richard Vogel/AP Photo]GEO Group, a Florida-based prison facility operator, runs the ICE detention centre in Adelanto, California [File: Richard Vogel/AP Photo]

To increase its capacity for detention, ICE has been contracting with private companies and purchasing large-scale detention centres capable of holding up to 10,000 people.

A document released earlier this year indicates it intends to have 92,600 beds in its detention centres by the end of fiscal year 2026.

Despite the rapid growth, DHS said that its detention centres had not seen a decline in their health and safety standards.

“As bed space has rapidly expanded, we have maintained higher a standard of care than most prisons that hold US citizens — including providing access to proper medical care," the spokesperson said.

"For many illegal aliens, this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives.”

It was February 23 when Ramos was arrested as part of an immigration operation in Torrance, California. He was taken to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, northeast of Los Angeles.

ICE records confirm that Ramos's health conditions, including his diabetes and hypertension, were documented upon his arrival. Prior to his detention, he took daily medication to treat his symptoms.

But critics of ICE's facilities have warned that conditions inside the detention centres are so harsh as to be life-threatening. A lawsuit filed in January described mould on Adelanto's walls, insufficient medical care and "rampant" illness.

Jesus Arias, the Ramos family’s lawyer, believes that the environment contributed to Jose's death.

“He had two conditions that many people in the US live with,” Arias said. “But even if someone has a normal condition that they need regular care for, such as diabetes, it's at risk at Adelanto because the conditions are shocking."

Tovar herself remembers Ramos warning her about life inside Adelanto. He told her that his clothes smelled as if they were never properly washed. And his diet was meagre.

During the month he was detained, his family sent him money so he could order food to ensure he ate enough.

“He felt like an animal, a dog, he’d say, all alone," Tovar said.

Detainees wait to be processed at an ICE detention centre in Adelanto, California, in August 2019 [File: Chris Carlson/AP Photo]Detainees wait to be processed at an ICE detention centre in Adelanto, California, in August 2019 [File: Chris Carlson/AP Photo]

What caused Ramos’s death is still disputed. According to an ICE press release, he was found unresponsive in his bunk on March 25. The agency says staff tried to resuscitate him before he was taken to a nearby medical centre, where he died.

But the Ramos family alleges that GEO Group, the private company that operates the detention centre, “ignored his emergency".

Other detainees had reported that they noticed Ramos's worsening health, but their cries were only answered when he fell unconscious.

Tovar said the detainees tried to help, but they told her they were not permitted to. They also remembered it took a long time for guards to call the on-site nurse and an ambulance.

“His transport to a hospital was extremely shockingly delayed. He died at the centre, we believe,” said Arias.

He added that the family is conducting a forensic investigation with a view to filing a civil case for medical negligence against both GEO Group and ICE.

GEO Group didn’t answer Al Jazeera’s questions but sent a link to an ICE news release that asserts Adelanto workers "immediately called onsite medical staff" upon finding Ramos unconscious.

A DHS spokesperson also denied that conditions at Adelanto contributed to his passing.

"All detainees are provided with proper meals, water, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers," the DHS spokesperson said.

"In fact, ICE has higher detention standards than most US prisons that hold actual US citizens.”

Ramos's son Jose Ramos, left, his daughter Gloria Ramos and his widow Antonia Tovar attend a news conference at the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles on March 30 [Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images]Ramos's daughter Gloria Ramos and his widow Antonia Tovar attend a news conference at the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles on March 30 [Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images]

Ramos's death, though, is part of a trend that has prompted international condemnation.

The 52-year-old is one of at least 14 Mexicans who have died in ICE detention since President Trump returned to office, according to the US government. But media reports suggest that a total of 15 have died during that period.

Mexico has responded to the deaths with outrage. In April, after the latest death, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced conditions at ICE detention centres as “incompatible with human rights standards and the protection of human life".

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has called for a full investigation. She also ordered consular officials in the US to step up their visits to ICE centres from weekly to daily.

Geopolitical commentator Alex Gonzalez Ormerod says this kind of oversight will be tough to execute, given austerity cuts to the country's foreign service.

“Diplomatic authorities cannot respond as swiftly as they should because of those cuts,” Ormerod told Al Jazeera, explaining that there have been layoffs and staff have gone unpaid. “It's a big problem.”

He added that Mexico’s ability to influence US immigration policy might further be hampered by conspiracy theorists who have accused Mexico of trying to take over its northern neighbour through its consular network.

Just last month, the Trump administration announced a review of all 53 Mexican consulates operating in the US, a move some fear could signal closures.

Relations between Sheinbaum and Trump have also frayed, amid disputes over security policy, immigration and trade.

Antonia Tovar speaks to reporters at a news conference held by the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles [Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images]Antonia Tovar speaks to reporters at a news conference held by the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles [Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images]

While cross-border relations might be fraught, Ormerod explained Mexico is succeeding in helping its citizens in the US.

“Mexico does do quite a good job through its network of consulates in sharing what migrants' rights are and giving them aid if they're ever in trouble," he said. "But really, beyond that, it's very difficult. Overall, the panorama is pretty grim.”

Dolovich, meanwhile, believes the Mexican government should continue to push its northern neighbour for accountability. She would like to see greater public awareness of conditions inside ICE centres.

“I would love people in Mexico to understand what's going on in terms of the ramping up of the numbers and the totally inhumane conditions under which people are being held," Dolovich said.

“The people who are running this operation don't have any sense of humanity and obligation to the people that they are detaining. I would love all those things to be the focus of criticism and objection, protest and, frankly, anger on the part of Mexico towards the American government and ICE detention.”

But for Tovar, her life will never be the same after Ramos's death. An undocumented immigrant herself, she lives in fear of leaving the house — in case she too is detained.

“It’s not a life any more," Tovar said. "You can’t go out. You’re always scared.”

She thinks about returning to Mexico. Such a move would separate her from her two children, who are both in the early years of adulthood. But, she added, the fight for accountability in Ramos's death is also a factor in her decision.

“This is what’s keeping me going forward," she said. "We’re going for justice. That’s what keeps me strong."