A 27-year-old Cuban national died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Miami after what officials described as an apparent suicide attempt, the federal law enforcement agency said Thursday.
Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt was found unresponsive in his cell at the Federal Detention Center in Miami around 6:30 a.m. on April 12, ICE said in a press release. A detention officer called a medical emergency and staff began CPR before Miami Fire Rescue arrived and continued resuscitation efforts. He was pronounced dead at 7:31 a.m.
ICE said the death is believed to be a suicide, but the official cause remains under investigation.
Carbonell-Betancourt entered the United States on Oct. 30, 2024, and was encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which issued him a notice to appear as an immigrant without valid documents and released him on parole, according to the agency.
He was later arrested on Nov. 22, 2025, in Miami-Dade County on a charge of resisting an officer with violence and was taken into ICE custody on Feb. 11 of this year, pending immigration removal proceedings.
ICE said it notified the Department of Homeland Security, the DHS Office of Inspector General and the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility following the death. The Cuban Embassy and Carbonell-Betancourt’s next of kin were also notified, the release said.
The agency clarified in its press release that detainees receive medical, dental and mental health screenings upon arrival at detention facilities, along with access to ongoing care and 24-hour emergency services.
“ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments,” the agency said. “At no time during detention is a detained noncitizen denied emergency care.”
Second death of a Cuban man in ICE custody in Miami
The death comes after another Miami case less than a year ago involving a longtime Cuban resident in South Florida.
A 75-year-old Isidro Perez died on June 26, 2025, at HCA Kendall Florida Hospital while in ICE custody.
Perez had lived in the United States for decades after being paroled into the country in 1966. ICE said he had prior convictions for controlled substance offenses in the early 1980s.
He was arrested June 5, 2025, in Key Largo on an immigration-related charge and taken to the Krome Detention Center in west Miami-Dade.
While in custody, Perez developed multiple health issues and was hospitalized June 17. After being discharged and returned to Krome, he reported chest pain the following day. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and initiated life-saving measures before transporting him back to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Other recent ICE detainee deaths reported in South Florida
Perez’s death is one of several recent in-custody deaths reported by ICE in South Florida.
Also in June of last year, 49-year-old Canadian national Johnny Noviello died while being held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami. ICE said he was in custody pending removal after a 2023 drug trafficking conviction.
In April of 2025, a 44-year-old Haitian woman, Marie Ange Blaisedied at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach.
Blaise had been taken into custody earlier this year after being stopped by CBP in the U.S. Virgin Islands while attempting to travel without valid immigration documents.
ICE detainee deaths rise nationwide as detention population grows
The deaths in South Florida come amid a broader rise in fatalities in ICE custody nationwideaccording to a recent CBS News analysis.
In March, Afghan immigrant Naseer Paktiawal told CBS News his brother, 41-year-old Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawalcomplained of feeling ill shortly after being detained by ICE in North Texas.
Paktiawal said he informed an ICE agent of his brother’s condition but was told medical staff would handle it. Less than 24 hours later, he learned his brother had died.
Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, who had been evacuated from Afghanistan during the U.S. military withdrawal in 2021, was the 12th person to die in ICE custody this year at the time. Two days later, a 19-year-old Mexican man also died in custody in what was described as a presumed suicide.
CBS News reported that 13 detainee deaths by March of this year were more than triple the number recorded during the same period the previous year. In 2025, 31 ICE detainees died, the highest total in two decades, according to the analysis.
The increase comes as ICE’s detention population has surged amid a broader immigration crackdown. As of early February, more than 68,000 people were being held in ICE detention facilities nationwide, agency data shows.
Even when accounting for the higher number of detainees, 2025 recorded the highest death rate — 5.6 deaths per 10,000 people in custody — since 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CBS News.