BALDWIN, MI - A man died in detention this week at the North Lake Processing Center, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Northern Michigan, according to congressional sources.

The death on Monday, Dec. 15, first reported by Metro Times Detroit, remains under investigation.

ICE has not publicly reported the death, but its website says it posts new releases about detainee deaths within two business days. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The man was identified as Nenko Gantchev, 56, a Bulgarian who was arrested in Chicago. It’s unclear how long Gantchev was in ICE detention, but a court filing shows he was being held as of Oct. 22.

He is no longer listed in ICE’s online detainee locator.

Update: During a deadly year for ICE detention, man dies at Michigan’s newest facility

U.S. Reps. Delia C. Ramirez, D-Chicago, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, issued a joint statement Thursday, Dec. 18, saying they are “deeply concerned” about Gantchev’s death.

“While ICE claims he died of natural causes, the circumstances surrounding his death are not yet clear, and we know there have been numerous complaints from family members and advocates about inhumane conditions and inadequate medical care at North Lake,” they said.

“We demand an immediate, transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Gantchev’s death, including an investigation into reports from other detainees that he asked for medical assistance and did not receive it in time to save his life.”

This is the 30th death in ICE custody this year, according to the lawmakers, making it the deadliest year since 2005. Not all of those deaths are listed on ICE’s detainee death reporting website. By comparison, 11 people died in immigration detention last year.

It’s the first immigrant death at North Lake, the largest ICE detention facility in Michigan. North Lake opened in June with 1,800 beds under President Donald Trump’s escalated immigration enforcement and mass deportation goal.

Private prison firm GEO Group owns the facility. GEO Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Christine Sauvé, from the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, says the detention system has long had issues with medical neglect and overcrowding, but there’s “heightened cruelty under the Trump administration.”

“As this administration creates new barriers and releases fewer people, individuals are languishing in detention, often with delayed or inadequate medical care, while separated needlessly from their families,” Sauvé said.

A record high number of 65,735 people are being held in ICE detention, the latest federal data shows.

That’s partly because the federal government issued a new policy in July that denied bond to more immigrants, keeping them detained indefinitely while they wait for their court hearings. But a federal judge in California ruled the no-bond policy illegal in late November.

Gantchev died 10 days after Tlaib conducted an oversight visit of North Lake on Dec. 5. Tlaib’s office received reports about the conditions there, a news release said, including cold temperatures, inadequate food, unsanitary facilities and difficulty getting medical care.

“During this visit, we learned there have been multiple suicide attempts at the facility, including one in the last couple weeks, and heard that more medical staff are needed,” she said in a statement. “No human being should be trapped in cages, forced to experience dehumanizing conditions or separated from their family.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security responded to Tlaib’s visit by saying members of Congress “never talk about the monsters that are detained.”

“Instead of focusing on the victims of these criminal illegal aliens, they use these visits as a poor excuse to demonize our brave ICE law enforcement and peddle FALSE allegations about illegal alien detention centers,” said the agency’s Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

Federal data shows nearly three-quarters of those in ICE detention, and 87% of those being held at North Lake, don’t have criminal convictions.