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This site contains over 2,000 news articles, legal briefs and publications related to for-profit companies that provide correctional services. Most of the content under the "Articles" tab below is from our Prison Legal News site. PLN, a monthly print publication, has been reporting on criminal justice-related issues, including prison privatization, since 1990. If you are seeking pleadings or court rulings in lawsuits and other legal proceedings involving private prison companies, search under the "Legal Briefs" tab. For reports, audits and other publications related to the private prison industry, search using the "Publications" tab.
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Nearly 50 People Have Died in ICE Custody Since Trump’s Return to White House
by Jo Ellen Knott
The death toll within the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carceral system reached a sad milestone with the April 12, 2026, passing of Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, 27, at a detention center in Miami. Carbonell-Betancourt, a Cuban national, was found in his cell, with suicide announced as the probable cause of death, according to local station WTVJ. Carbonell-Betancourt was the 17th person to die in ICE custody so far this year (an average of one per week)—and the 48th since President Donald Trump (R) assumed office in 2025. This year has already reached half of 2025’s record-breaking body count.
Just one day prior to Carbonell-Betancourt’s death, a Mexican detainee was found dead at the Winn Correctional Center in rural Louisiana. Officials claim the detainee, Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, 49, was found “unresponsive,” but independent reviews of ICE deaths in custody frequently reveal that systemic delays in care are often the true culprits. It is perhaps unsurprising that Winn is operated by LaSalle Corrections, a private prison profiteer, and that it sits in a cluster of private facilities notorious for medical neglect and chronic understaffing.
Sources: ABC News, WTVJ
