Nicaraguan man arrested in Minneapolis dies in ICE custody

Jan. 19 (UPI) — A Nicaraguan immigrant detained earlier this month in the Trump administration’s crackdown targeting Minneapolis has died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody of an apparent suicide, officials said.

Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, died Wednesday at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, Ice said Sunday in a statement.

He is at least the sixth person whose death in ICE custody has been public reported by the agency so far this year.

According to ICE, security staff at the immigration facility found Diaz unconscious and unresponsive in his room. On-site medical staff conducted life-saving measures, with El Paso EMS notified at 3:35 p.m.

Diaz was pronounced dead at 4:09 p.m. MST.

“He died of a presumed suicide; however, the official cause of his death remains under investigation,” ICE said.

Diaz was detained by ICE agents on Jan. 6 in Minneapolis where thousands of federal immigration law enforcement officers have been deployed for Operation Metro Surge.

The deployment of agents have raised tensions in the city, especially following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, by an ICE agent as she was attempting to leave a scene in her vehicle.

Protests have erupted against the ICE operation and local officials have called on the federal agents to leave, while urging residents to maintain calm, explaining that the Trump administration is trying to stoke violence.

President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy U.S. soldiers to the city to quell protests. About 1,500 active-duty service members are reportedly on standby.

According to ICE, Diaz illegally entered the United States on March 26, 2024, and was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents on the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

An immigration judge ordered Diaz removed in absentia in late August.

Two days before he died, ICE processed him as a final order of removal and detained him pending removal from the United States.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is demanding “a complete and transparent investigation” into what happened at Camp East Montana.

“We deserve answers,” the Democrat said.

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., called Diaz’s death “another senseless tragedy.”

“ICE has an obligation to keep detainees safe,” she said in a post on X.

“We need a complete and impartial investigation of what is happening in these detention centers.”