British man dies in US immigration detention in Florida

Source: The Guardian

A British man has died while being held in US immigration detention in Florida, the Guardian has confirmed.

The death was first reported by BuzzFeed News, which said the man was 39 years old and that the cause was initially attributed to asphyxiation due to hanging. The incident was reported to have occurred on Saturday last week.

In a statement to BuzzFeed, the agency identified the deceased man as Ben James Owen and clarified he had died at the Baker county detention center in Macclenny, Florida. Officials said Owen had entered the US on a temporary visa in July and had been arrested on suspicion of felony aggravated stalking, felony false imprisonment, domestic assault, and violating the conditions of his pre-trial release. The agency said the case remained under investigation.

The incident marks the fifth death at a detention centre in the 2020 fiscal year...

Last year Ice detained 510,854 people, compared with 396,448 in 2018.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/27/british-death-us-immigration-ice