EXCLUSIVE: ICE Prisoner Dies at Largest ICE Prison in Midwest

We’ve exclusively learned a second ICE prisoner has died at North Lake Processing Center in Michigan in less than a year. Sources say detainees might launch a hunger strike in response.

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Status Coup News has exclusively learned that a detainee at ICE’s North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, the largest ICE prison in the Midwest, has died—the second detainee to die at the 1,400-capacity ICE prison in less than a year. Status Coup is still confirming the detainee’s identity, age, and the circumstances surrounding their death. Sources familiar with the detainee’s death tell Status Coup they died on November 9th or 10th.

North Lake is owned by for-profit prison operator GEO Group, who made $250 million in profit in 2025 off of the explosion in ICE detention via the Trump regime.

This makes 58 detainee deaths—that we know of—at ICE prisons across America during President Trump’s second term, according to the ACLU (as of September 2026).

Multiple sources familiar with the details of this most recent death at North Lake Processing Center tell Status Coup:

• The death occurred on either Monday, November 9 or Tuesday, November 10.

• The ICE prison went into lockdown on the morning of Tuesday, November 10. Detainees also lost their recreation time after their fellow detainee’s death.

• GEO Group guards confirmed the death to detainees when they pushed for information.

• Thus far, activists and attorneys have not been able to confirm the detainee’s name, age, or circumstances surrounding their death.

• Detainees are currently deciding whether to launch a hunger and/or labor strike in response to the detainee’s death. As Status Coup exclusively reported in May, hundreds of ICE prisoners at North Lake launched a hunger strike over horrific conditions. “I peed on myself when they were beating me,” a female prisoner wrote in her Habeas Corpus petition Status Coup obtained.

• This is the second known death at the ICE prison in less than a year. In December 2025, Nenko Gantchev, 56, died at North Lake. Gantchev’s family revealed he was not provided proper or consistent medical care for his Type-2 diabetes while imprisoned at North Lake. ABC7 Chicago reported Gantchev’s final moments were "taking shallow gasps of air" and "turning blue."

• Immigrants rights’ attorneys are working to get more answers.

On November 10, the Department of Homeland Security denied to Status Coup any prisoner deaths had occurred at the North Lake Processing Center.

Multiple sources familiar with the ICE prison, and in touch with detainees, state there was, indeed, a death (DHS has previously misled the public and Status Coup on ICE detainee deaths; in previous instances, soon after DHS denied a detainee death, a death was confirmed by Status Coup and then other media outlets).

As 2026 nears its end, this year’s ICE prisoner death toll is set to surpass 2025’s grim record. In 2025, DHS reported 33 ICE detainee deaths—the highest total in more than two decades.

Thus far, in 2026, 31 people died in ICE custody, according to The National Immigration Project (including people whom we can confirm died within 30 days of release from ICE custody).

Of course, these fatalities are deaths that we know of —and DHS has reported to the public. As Status Coup reported in September, DHS has failed to publicly disclose the deaths of detainees by capitalizing on a loophole: quickly releasing detainees who are having a medical emergency—and therefore not reporting the detainee’s death to the public (claiming they were no longer in ICE custody).

WATCH BELOW immigrant rights organizer Sally Pillay explain to our Jordan Chariton how DHS is lying about the official ICE prison death count.

This horrible news comes on the heels of President Trump and Republicans being loudly rejected by voters in the midterm elections—with 73 percent of voters stating Trump’s ICE terror became a crucial or major factor in their vote, according to NBC News exit polls. Among midterm election voters, 58 percent stated Trump’s ICE policies had gone too far; and 14 percent of Americans listed immigration as their top voting issue—ranking third behind the economy (39 percent) and the state of Democracy (33 percent).

Despite the president’s wife saying ICE had gone too far, and Trump himself agreeing with the sentiment on 60 Minutes — Trump just appointed the architect of the ICE terror campaign, Stephen Miller, as his chief of staff. Needless to say, there is little evidence the Trump’s regime will be slowing down anytime soon.

Status Coup has reported across America on Trump’s ICE terror machine—with our reporters risking their own safety through endless tear gas and “less lethal” ammunition being fired at us (not to mention our cameraman Jon Farina nearly losing his finger from frostbite while covering an ICE raid in Minneapolis). This ON THE GROUND guerrilla journalism is extremely important—and takes A LOT of resources. Please support Status Coup as a paying member for as low as $5 bucks a month (16 cents a day). WE NEED MORE SUPPORT to continue funding this important reporting.