A French national, born in Angola, died while being detained by the American immigration services in New Mexico.
The 40-year-old man and woman, whose identity has not been released, died on Sunday at the Albuquerque Presbyterian Hospital while he or she was in federal custody.
"An autopsy is underway to determine the official cause of death," according to a statement from the US immigration services, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released on Wednesday, stating that the French consular services had been notified and that they were trying to "locate his family".
It is not known why the person was detained, for how long or why he was taken to hospital.
Questioned by AFP, a spokeswoman for the French Embassy in the United States said she was unable to comment "at this stage".
The death follows that of Nebane Abienwi, a 37-year-old Cameroonian who died in October of a brain hemorrhage while being detained by the ICE in San Diego, California. Also in October, a Cuban national, Roylan Hernandez-Diaz, 53, apparently committed suicide while he was detained by the ICE in Lousiane, according to these immigration services. Between December 2018 and May 2019, five children from Guatemala also died in detention after being arrested by American immigration officers.
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Donald Trump has made the fight against illegal immigration a priority in his mandate and for his re-election. He has developed rhetoric accusing immigration of bringing unemployment, violence, drugs and crime to American soil. Numerous political and legal battles have taken place around this controversial subject, in particular to continue the construction of an anti-migrant wall at the long border with Mexico.