Key Facts

• Mamuka Artmeladze was taken into ICE custody in February during a New Orleans operation targeting commercial drivers without legal status.
• He was found unresponsive at the Winn Correctional Center and died after attempts to save him at a local medical center.
• His official cause of death is pending an autopsy.
• Artmeladze’s death is the 50th detainee death in ICE custody under the current Trump administration.
• The first 14 months of President Trump’s second term have seen the highest number of deaths in federal detention in recent years, except for 2020 when COVID-19 impacted detainees.
• ICE recently ended a policy that required reporting deaths of former detainees within 30 days of their release.
• This change in reporting policy was made during the Trump administration, reversing a rule established under the Biden administration.
• Lawmakers and immigrant advocates are closely watching conditions in detention centers amid the ongoing immigration crackdown.