As a fourth man dies at the Adelanto ICE detention center, Mexican officials are calling for an investigation
A Southern California immigration detention center is facing a re-examination after federal officials confirmed the death of an inmate last week, marking the fourth death since September and contributing to what has been one of the deadliest years for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, who was being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, died on March 25, according to ICE. He and the other three who died were Mexican nationals, prompting the Mexican government to demand an immediate review of the facility, pointing to “gross omissions and obvious deficiencies” in medical care.
The death of Ramos-Solano raises the nationwide death toll in ICE custody in the past three months to 14.
These figures show significant growth compared to recent years. In 2025, 33 people died in ICE custody, according to the agency’s data, compared to 11 in 2024, seven in 2023, three in 2022, and five in 2021.
Ramos-Solano’s death has raised concerns about conditions at the Adelanto facility, which has been the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit alleging widespread abuse. Prisoners say they are plagued by fungus, disease, inadequate food and water, and poor health care.
Lawyers say the latest death reinforces those allegations.
Lindsay Toczylowski, founder of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said her organization received a call from a witness who reported seeing Ramos-Solano struggling to breathe and depressed. The operator indicated that there was a delay in the provision of health care.
“We’re on track now to have the worst year in ICE history for people incarcerated,” he said. “Given the circumstances and the level of medical negligence that we are already challenging in court, this should not surprise us.”
In a statement, ICE said workers found Ramos-Solano unresponsive in his room and immediately began life-saving measures, including CPR, while calling 911. He was later taken to a hospital in Victorville, where he died. The official cause of death has not been determined.
Ramos-Solano was arrested during a targeted law enforcement operation in Torrance on Feb. 23, according to the statement. The agency said he was convicted last year of drug possession and theft.
ICE maintains that Ramos-Solano received consistent medical care while incarcerated, noting that he was diagnosed with diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and high blood pressure when he ate in February and was treated daily for those conditions.
According to ICE, Ramos was arrested during an investigation in Torrance on February 23. The agency said he was convicted last year of drug possession and theft.
The statement said the agency is “committed to ensuring that all detainees are housed in safe, secure and humane facilities.”
GEO Group Inc., the private contractor working on the Adelanto facility, declined to comment, referring questions to ICE.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry called for an investigation when it learned of Ramos-Solano’s death on Friday.
The embassy in San Bernardino said it has reached out to Ramos-Solano’s family to offer help and support. Officials said they are also contacting authorities to determine the cause of death, obtain a complete medical record and review the circumstances surrounding his death.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is once again calling on the responsible authorities to ensure that these tragic cases do not continue and demands an immediate review of the Adelanto facility, due to the gross neglect and apparent lack of provision of medical care to the people in its custody,” the statement read.
“The Mexican government will use all legal and diplomatic means to raise awareness of the problem and confront this case, underscoring its commitment to ensuring the protection and dignity of Mexican citizens abroad.”
In a press conference last week, Roberto Velasco Álvarez, the senior official for North America at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico, said that 13 Mexicans have died while working as immigrants or in detention.
Federal officials said four of those were in California, according to the Mexican government. The ages of the people who died were between 19 and 69 years old.
Of the 13, Mexican officials said six died of medical complications, four by suicide, two during an ICE operation and one in a shooting at a Dallas detention center.
In Adelanto, the other three deaths were Ismael Ayala-Uribea 39-year-old former DACA recipient, who had been held in Adelanto for about a month before his death in September; Gabriel Garcia-Aviles, 56, who lived near Costa Mesa, and died on October 23, about a week in custody; and Alberto Gutierrez Reyes, 48, who died on February 27.
Velasco called the death “very painful, heartbreaking, and totally unacceptable to the Mexican government.” Two cases have been filed by the families of these people, he said.
