Lawmakers seek answers after detainee dies in ICE custody in Michigan
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent’s badge is seen as federal agents patrol the halls of New York’s immigration court on June 10, 2025. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Two Democratic members of Congress from Michigan are calling for a full federal investigation into the death of a man who died while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
In a letter Sent Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, U.S. Reps. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) and Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) said the Dec. 15 death of Nenko Gantchev at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, was part of a “deeply troubling pattern of deaths in ICE custody.”
They noted that ICE has reported at least 30 detainee deaths this year — the highest total since 2004 — including that of Gantchev, who was the fourth inmate death reported in a four-day period in December.
Gantchev, a Bulgarian national arrested by ICE on September 23 and detained pending deportation proceedings, was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead around 9:54 p.m., according to ICE.
The agency described the cause as a “suspected natural cause,” while the official cause remains under investigation.
In their letter, lawmakers asked specific questions they wanted answered, including whether ICE had provided all required medical examinations, care and supervision for Gantchev; whether staff followed required procedures after finding him unresponsive; and whether complaints about his treatment or conditions at North Lake were recorded and addressed.
Protesters denouncing the opening of North Lake Correctional Center, an immigration detention center in Baldwin, Michigan. July 4, 2025 | Photo by Leah Craig/Michigan Advance
They also asked for details about current staffing, medical screening policies and conditions at the facility, which reopened this year and has seen rapid population growth.
“Since reopening in June of this year, reports indicate that North Lake’s inmate population has increased in recent months due to increased immigration enforcement activities under this administration,” Stevens and Scholten wrote, adding that the growth in the inmate population at the facility has coincided with complaints of inhumane conditions and inadequate medical care.
“We all believe in a secure border, but securing our border does not require abandoning our commitment to the rule of law and protecting and honoring human dignity,” the lawmakers concluded, requesting a preliminary response from DHS and ICE by Friday, January 9, 2026, “to ensure justice for those who have already died in custody and the safety of those currently detained.”
GEO Group, a private company under federal contract, operates the North Lake facility that closed in 2022 before reopening in June of this year under a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract.
The installation, which attracted many demonstrations activists, is now the largest ICE detention center in the Midwest and one of the largest in the country.
