British man dies in US immigration detention centre
Officials in the UK have confirmed they are looking into reports that a British man has died while in the custody of US immigration authorities.
Reports said a 39-year-old had been found dead while being held in Florida by the enforcement of arm of the nation’s border agency, known as ICE.
The incident marked the fifth person to die in ICE custody since October, reports said..
Eight people total died in ICE custody during the 2019 fiscal year.
A spokesperson for the foreign office in London told The Independent: “Our staff are in contact with the US authorities following the death of a British man in Florida.”
Reports said it appeared the man had taken his own life.
BuzzFeed News, which was the first to report the death, said ICE has expanded the number of people it detains to record levels under the presidency of Donald Trump.
In late January, the agency was detaining nearly 41,000 immigrants.
The peak came this summer, when around 55,000 immigrants were in custody in local jails and private prisons across the country.
There were no immediate details about the man’s identify or why he had been detained.
US immigration authorities did not immediately respond to enquiries.
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