A South Florida lawmaker is demanding the Trump administration conduct a “thorough investigation” into the death of a Haitian woman last week at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, where the 44-year-old was being detained as a suspected undocumented immigrant.
Marie Ange Blaise was pronounced dead last Friday night, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, who said in a statement that "all those [detainees] in its custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments."
“Ms. Blaise's life mattered, and we owe it to her and to the public to understand how such a loss occurred while she was in the care and custody of the U.S. government,” wrote U.S. Rep Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Miramar, in a letter sent Thursday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees ICE.
READ MORE: Haitian immigrant dies in federal custody at Broward Transitional Center, report ICE officials
“The federal government holds a solemn responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of all individuals in its custody, including those detained by ICE,” wrote Cherfilus-McCormick, the only Haitian-American in Congress.
“The circumstances of Ms. Blaise’s death raise serious questions about the quality of medical care provided during her detention, as well as the toll such frequent transfers may have taken on her physical and mental health,” she wrote.
“While ICE has stated that detainees receive ‘comprehensive medical care,’ this tragic outcome calls that claim into question and demands public accountability,” said the congresswoman.
She gave DHS officials until May 12 to respond, but ICE officials have said they would release a full report on Blaise’s death within 90 days.
Blaise, who ICE says entered the U.S. illegally, was originally detained on Feb. 12, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended her at the Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. They said she was attempting to board a flight to Charlotte, N.C.
That same day, CBP officials issued her a “Notice of Expedited Removal” for attempting to enter the country without a valid immigrant visa. She was moved Feb. 14 to San Juan, Puerto Rico, before being transferred to other detention centers. She eventually was sent to the Broward Transitional Center on April 5. She was pronounced dead Friday, April 25 at 8:35 p.m.
In following protocol, ICE officials said they notified the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility and the Consulate of Haiti in Miami about Blaise’s death.
Blaise is one of three people who have died this year in custody of federal immigration authorities in South Florida.
Genry Donaldo Ruiz-Guillen, 29, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, died Jan. 23. The other undocumented immigrant was Maksym Chernyak, 44, of Ukraine, who died Feb. 20. Both had been hospitalized after being housed at the Krome Detention Center in south Miami-Dade.
Three other people have died in ICE custody since Oct. 1, the start of the 2025 fiscal year, according to agency data, with half of those deaths occurring since January.
