ICE reported its 18th detainee death of 2026 after a 33-year-old Cuban, Denny Adan Gonzalez, was found unresponsive at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia; the agency suspects suicide and is investigating. The new death brings ICE closer to a potential record after 31 deaths in 2025, which nearly equaled the 2004 peak of 32. The rise in deaths has coincided with a larger detention population — which topped 70,000 earlier this year and remained about 60,000 last month — and renewed scrutiny over conditions and medical care in facilities.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday notified Congress and the public that a person in its custody has died, marking the agency's 18th detainee death so far in 2026 and placing it on track for a possible new record if the trend continues. The agency identified the deceased as 33-year-old Denny Adan Gonzalez, a Cuban national. ICE said Gonzalez was found unresponsive late Tuesday in his cell at the privately operated Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. The agency described the suspected cause of death as suicide and said a formal investigation is ongoing. According to ICE, Gonzalez first entered the United States in May 2019 through an official port of entry along the Texas border and was deported the following year. ICE said he reentered the country unlawfully in 2022 and had at one point been released by immigration authorities. Local officials in Charlotte, North Carolina, arrested Gonzalez in December on assault and domestic violence charges, and ICE took him into federal custody in January; he remained in ICE detention since then. Rising Deaths and Detention Numbers This reported suicide is the 18th detainee death in the first four months of 2026. By comparison, ICE recorded 31 detainee deaths in 2025 — a two-decade high that nearly matched the all-time record of 32 deaths in 2004. Earlier this year ICE's reported detention population climbed above 70,000 people before falling to roughly 60,000 last month, still higher than under any previous administration. Even when adjusted for the size of the detained population, 2025 had the highest death rate in recent years: 5.6 deaths per 10,000 detainees, according to a CBS News analysis of government data. The people who have died in ICE custody this year include an Afghan refugee who worked alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan and a Mexican teenager; many detainees had been initially arrested by local law enforcement on a variety of alleged offenses, including theft, fraud and resisting an officer. Concerns About Conditions And Oversight The sharp increase in detainee deaths has coincided with a nationwide expansion of deportation operations that increased ICE’s detention population. Reports from across the country have described substandard conditions inside some facilities, citing overcrowding, delays or gaps in medical care, and insufficient food. ICE has consistently denied allegations of poor conditions. In statements announcing new deaths the agency has defended its care protocols and treatment of people in custody. ICE: "ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments. Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout their stay." Investigations into individual deaths are ongoing, and lawmakers, advocates and oversight bodies continue to call for greater transparency and independent review of conditions in detention facilities.Help us improve.