Cambodian Immigrant Dies After Withdrawal Treatment at Philadelphia ICE Center

Parady La, 46, was pronounced dead early Friday at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital after being treated for severe drug withdrawal at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. La was admitted to the hospital in critical condition and was later declared to have no brain activity and complete renal failure before he died, ICE officials said.

ICE said agents arrested La outside his Upper Darby home on a Tuesday and transferred him to the Philadelphia facility three days before his death. Facility staff treated him for severe drug withdrawal after his arrival. The day after he was moved to the detention center, staff found him unresponsive in his cell and immediately began cardiopulmonary resuscitation and administered several doses of naloxone. Emergency medical services took over resuscitation efforts and transported him to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where physicians reported limited brain function by Wednesday evening and a rapid deterioration the following day.

ICE provided the timeline and medical details and said it was investigating the circumstances of La’s death. The agency also said La had been admitted to the United States in 1981 as a refugee and became a lawful permanent resident in 1982. ICE added that he had lost his legal status after a series of crimes spanning roughly two decades, including a 1994 adjudication as delinquent for simple assault in Delaware County and later convictions for robbery, criminal conspiracy and other offenses.

La’s death comes against a backdrop of mounting fatalities in federal immigration detention in 2025. Independent counts and reporting by journalists and advocacy groups show a wide discrepancy in tallies but consistently portray the year as the deadliest for detainees in roughly 20 years, with figures ranging from the mid-20s to more than 30 documented deaths. The pattern has included a disproportionate number of Asian nationals among the deceased; at least five names have been identified in public reporting.

Several recent cases have raised specific concerns about conditions, oversight and access to information. One detainee was found hanging in a shower stall and later described in an autopsy as having hands and feet bound behind his back, prompting a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by family members seeking more records. In another case, staff performed CPR and used a defibrillator before a detainee was pronounced dead at a regional hospital. A separate detainee died after developing a cough and fever at a different facility, according to public accounts.

Immigrant rights advocates have seized on the cluster of deaths to demand independent investigations, fuller disclosure of medical records and improved access for visitors and monitors. “This is not an isolated incident,” said Marina Arteaga of the Imperial Liberation Collaborative, summing up advocates’ broader concerns about language barriers, delayed care and limited oversight.

ICE said investigations were under way into these deaths but has at times declined to answer further questions. Hospitals and detention centers involved in other cases have also been reticent to comment, a pattern advocates say fuels mistrust and underscores the need for clearer accountability in the nation’s immigration detention system.