Workers at a battery plant construction site in Georgia stand with their hands against a van during an immigration raid carried out by ICE and other federal and state authorities on Sept. 4, 2025. (EPA/Yonhap)
Three Korean nationals have reportedly died in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with two of them dying by suicide, since the agency’s establishment in 2003.According to figures provided by the US Department of Homeland Security, a Korean man named Ahn Choung-woong died at the age of 74 at an ICE detention facility in Mesa Verde, California, on May 17, 2020. Ahn’s family sued the government on the grounds that the ICE facility neglected obvious signs that he was at risk for suicide, leading to his death.In a damages lawsuit filed against ICE and the facility operator reviewed by the Hankyoreh, Ahn’s daughter asserted that his mental health had deteriorated after learning that infection with COVID-19 could create complications with existing conditions, including hypertension and diabetes.One month before his death, medical professionals reported that Ahn was feeling serious suicidal urges.Ahn’s legal representative also asked the facility to move him from a solitary room to a room with other individuals, but that request was not granted.Ahn was deeply disappointed by the final rejection of his request for release on May 11 and took his own life five days later.His bereaved family members said facility management was responsible for his death because they had kept him in solitary confinement without close observation despite his high risk of suicide.The daughter’s legal team argued that it was “illegal” for an individual at high risk of suicide to be placed in quarantine.“Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the facility operator’s repeated failure to provide Ahn with appropriate and timely medical care and psychiatric treatment amounted to negligence allowing his mental and physical state to worsen,” lawyers stated.The legal proceedings were concluded by mutual agreement in June 2025; the specifics of the settlement have not been disclosed.The other two Koreans who died in ICE detention date back a decade earlier.A Korean man surnamed Heo, born in 1954, ended his life in a detention center in Passaic County, New Jersey, in 2005.A Korean woman surnamed Kim, born in 1948, was in detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New Mexico when she was transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment of pancreatic cancer. She died in September 2006.There are no detailed records about these two individuals’ entry to the US, arrest, detention or treatment while in custody.By Kwak Jin-san, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
