A 44-year-old citizen of Ukraine in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was pronounced dead by doctors at HCA Kendall Hospital in Miami, Florida, on February 20, 2025, according to a press release from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”). A hospital physician reported the preliminary cause of death as bleeding from the brain.

The man entered the United States on August 24, 2024, in Miami as a Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolee with authorization to stay in the U.S. through August 23, 2026. He was in the US in lawful immigration status at the time these events took place.

ICE encountered him January 26, 2025, at the Broward County Jail in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, following his arrest for battery and they lodged an immigration detainer, which is a notice asking the local law enforcement agency to hold an individual in jail so they can come take them into federal custody later. Broward County Jail released the man into the custody of ICE on February 2, 2025, and he was transported to the Krome Service and Processing Center. Miami Dade Fire Rescue transported the man to the HCA Kendall Hospital due to vomiting and seizure activity on February 18, 2025. Hospital medical staff found him in an unresponsive state and conducted a CT scan of the brain which revealed bleeding. He died two days later.

they were trapped in a punitive system indefinitel