Lawmakers demand answers after a Haitian woman dies at an ICE detention center

A woman from Haiti died after spending over two months in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, the agency announced on Tuesday.

Marie Ange Blaise, 44, was pronounced dead on Friday night at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Fla. ICE says her cause of death is under investigation.

Speaking on the House floor Wednesday, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., suggested that Blaise had not been provided adequate medical care.

“Marie had been complaining about chest pain for hours,” said Cherfilus-McCormick, who is the only Haitian-American in Congress. “They gave her some pills and told her to go lie down. Unfortunately, Marie never woke up.”

NPR has reached out to ICE for more information. In its Tuesday notice, the agency said that “at no time during detention” is a detainee “denied emergent care.”

“All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health screening and 24-hour emergency care at each detention facility,” it said.

Congress requires ICE to make public all reports about in-custody deaths within 90 days. In the meantime, Cherfilus-McCormick plans to visit the Pompano Beach facility and is calling for a “full, independent investigation” into Blaise’s death.

“Her loved ones deserve answers,” she said. “They deserve accountability — like so many immigrant families who have their loved ones missing and who are hurt.”

Another South Florida Democrat, Rep. Frederica Wilson, said in a tweet that she was “heartbroken and furious” to learn of Blaise’s death. She called on members of Congress to visit ICE facilities for themselves to increase oversight of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

“How many more stories do we have to hear of immigrants being mistreated at these black hole detention centers?” she wrote. “When are we going to get answers?”

Blaise was transferred between multiple facilities 

ICE says Blaise entered the U.S. without admission or parole “on an unknown date and place.”

According to the agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered her on Feb. 12 at the international airport in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, attempting to board a flight to Charlotte, N.C.

“On the same date, CBP issued Blaise a Notice of Expedited Removal, charging inadmissibility as an immigrant without a valid immigrant visa,” it said.

Two days later, CBP transferred her to ICE custody in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was sent to Louisiana the following week, where she spent over a month detained at the Richwood Correctional Center. On April 5, she was transferred to the detention center in Pompano Beach, Fla. She died there nearly three weeks later.

Six other people have died in ICE custody since the start of the 2025 fiscal year, according to agency data, with half of those deaths occurring since January.

The Trump administration touts its immigration crackdown

News of Blaise’s death comes as the Trump administration ramps up its aggressive campaign of raids, detentions and deportations.

On Wednesday, ICE announced it had arrested 66,463 people without legal status — and deported 65,682 of them — in Trump’s first 100 days in office.

Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary of public affairs, told NPR’s Morning Edition that there will be more deportations ahead.

“What we’re doing is a change in the culture this first hundred days, and we are seeing success,” McLaughlin said. “But we’re going to see those numbers increase in the next hundred days.”

Trump’s immigration crackdown has not only rattled immigrant communities but sparked massive protests, numerous court challenges and broader concerns of a constitutional crisis.

An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released this week found that just 44% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling immigration so far. But the partisan differences are stark: 87% of Republicans approve of his approach, compared to just 11% of Democrats.