AP investigation finds ICE detainees dying by suicide at ‘alarming’ rate

An AP team’s work on the growing number of deaths in ICE custody delivered powerful visuals and testimony to tell a heart-wrenching story causing alarm in public health circles – that suicides in ICE custody are at an all-time high.

From in-depth scrutiny of autopsy and police records and other public documents, reporter Ryan J. Foley noticed that a growing proportion of deaths in ICE custody were suicides. An expert confirmed his findings and through a FOIA request Foley obtained powerful new details from two of the cases in Missouri, including a note in Spanish by 27-year-old Brayan Rayo Garzon, pleading with guards to let him call his mother, written just an hour before he was found unconscious in his cell.

Across many interviews conducted in Spanish, former AP reporter Morgan Lee won the trust of Rayo’s mother to let AP tell her story and Kansas City-based video journalist Nick Ingram traveled to St. Louis to do an on-camera interview in which she shared her son’s struggles with mental health and anxiety during his detention. Reporter Michael Biesecker worked with Foley to find and interview experts to understand the failures in care and oversight that were contributing to the deaths. Manuel Valdes then constructed a powerful video with the interviews, handwritten note and the AP’s findings. Artist Philip Holm turned the data into a powerful visual representation and interactive designer Dario Lopez-Mills stacked all the elements on deadline to make for an innovative presentation.

The story resonated with customers and audiences alike and spurred high-level international government response. Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on X that his government would file a formal protest with the U.S. over the treatment of Rayo before his death and called on the U.S. to reflect on how its immigration policies are killing people.

The judges were impressed by the compelling and visually told investigation, which offered a window into the human toll of the data while also providing higher-level context.

For exceptional accountability journalism and visual storytelling, Foley, Biesecker, Ingram and Valdes win this week’s Best of AP — First Winner.