Canadian dies while in ICE custody in Florida, U.S. agency says

Darren Major · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 3:13 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

A Canadian national died portion successful custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this week, the bureau says.

Johnny Noviello, 49, died successful a detention centre successful Florida connected Monday, an ICE quality merchandise says.

The origin of decease is chartless and is nether investigation, according to the release.

Despite having Canadian citizenship, Noviello had been successful the U.S. since 1988 and became a lawful imperishable nonmigratory successful 1991, the merchandise says.

In 2023, helium was convicted of a fig of offences — including racketeering and cause trafficking — and had been sentenced to 12 months successful prison.

Public tribunal documents from that lawsuit authorities that Noviello had epilepsy which required medicine to power his seizures.

ICE agents arrested Noviello successful May and helium was being detained "pending removal proceedings," the agency's quality merchandise said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand posted a connection connected societal media Thursday saying that the authorities had been notified of Noivello's death.

"Canadian consular officials are urgently seeking much accusation from U.S. officials. I connection my sincere condolences to the family," she wrote successful a station connected X.

Noviello's decease comes arsenic ICE agents person been making sweeping arrests crossed the United States.

Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a raft of enforcement orders that purpose to clamp down connected amerciable migration and beforehand his extremity of deporting millions of immigrants successful the U.S. illegally.

Stephen Miller, White House lawman main of unit and the main designer of Trump's migration policies, has pushed ICE to purpose for astatine slightest 3,000 arrests a day, up from astir 650 a time during the archetypal 5 months of Trump's 2nd term.

WATCH | Canadian pistillate describes her ICE detainment: 

Trump himself has called connected ICE officials "to bash each successful their powerfulness to execute the precise important extremity of delivering the azygous largest wide deportation programme successful history."

The migration crackdown sparked monolithic protests successful Los Angeles earlier this month. Trump responded to the demonstrations by ordering troops into the city, drafting the ire of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

Noviello isn't the lone Canadian to person been arrested successful the U.S. since the ICE sweeps began.

Jasmine Mooney from B.C. was arrested and held for astir 2 weeks aft trying to get a enactment visa renewed. She was released and returned to Canada successful mid-March.