(RNS) — Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, an Eritrean imam from Ohio and a 46-year-old green card holder, died while in immigration custody on Dec. 14 at a private detention facility in Clearfield County, Pa, according to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Abdulkadir is one of four people who died while in immigration detention during a four-day period this month, raising alarm among advocates and some members of Congress about deteriorating conditions at immigrant detention facilities.
“Imam Fouad’s death underscores the deadly consequences of a detention system that routinely fails to provide adequate medical care, transparency, and basic human dignity,” the Council on American Islamic Relations’ Ohio and Pennsylvania chapters said in a statement.
The recent deaths bring the total number of detainees who have died to a two decade high, with 30 deaths in ICE custody in 2025, the highest number since 2004, when 32 detainees died.
Abdulkadir complained of chest pains prior to his death and received CPR after he was transported to a hospital, according to an ICE news release. The cause of death is under investigation.
“Imam Fouad’s death is not an isolated tragedy, it is the predictable outcome of a violent detention system that continues to cage people for profit and punishment,” wrote the Shutdown Detention Campaign, an advocacy group calling for the closing of detention centers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
RELATED: New Jersey religious activists call for investigation after ICE detainee’s death
Abdulkadir was held …