Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on Wednesday confirmed the Tuesday death of Roylan Hernández-Díaz, a 43-year-old Cuban man, while in their custody at the Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana. ”The preliminary cause of death appears to be self-inflicted strangulation; however, the case is currently under investigation.”
This is the second person to die while in ICE custody since the start of the month, when Nebane Abienwi, a 37-year-old man from Cameroon, suffered a brain hemorrhage and died after being detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in California.
ICE’s press release announcing Hernández-Díaz’s death used language saying he "passed away”—they do this constantly, as if that'll somehow smooth over the oftentimes brutal and miserable ways other people in their custody have died. This language was used for Abienwi too.
There’s still no other information about Hernández-Díaz’s death, other than what ICE has released. We’ll continue to update when there’s more information. Their names were Roylan Hernandez-Diaz, and Nebane Abienwi.