Canadian who died in ICE custody lived a ‘simple life,’ his lawyer says

The Canadian man who died while in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this week was a “very polite, quiet, unassuming man with a very simple life” who did not pose a danger to anyone, says the lawyer who represented him.

Dan Leising represented Johnny Noviello, 49, who died in a detention centre in Florida on Monday. The cause of death is unknown and is under investigation, says an ICE news release.

In 2023, Noviello was convicted of a number of offences — including racketeering and drug trafficking — and had been sentenced to 12 months in prison, according to the ICE release.

But Leising says Noviello never actually went to state prison. Being sentenced to 364 days, he served time in county jail and was out on probation when he was arrested by ICE in May.

Leising says Noviello had not violated the terms of his probation.

Leising described the charges against Noviello as “very, very serious.” He said Noviello had worked as a cashier and did some janitorial work, and had no prior criminal record. 

“Is he violent or anybody that you’d be afraid of if you walked by them on the street? Absolutely not,” said Leising. 

Leising says he stayed in contact with Noviello’s family during his detention and after his death. The family once called Leising when they were unable to get in contact with Noviello during his detention. 

He said the family was concerned about Noviello getting the medication required to treat his epilepsy. Leising said he has no knowledge of Noviello’s access to that medicine while in detention. 

Investigation underway

Despite having Canadian citizenship, Noviello had been in the U.S. since 1988 and became a lawful permanent resident in 1991, the release says.

Noviello was being detained by ICE “pending removal proceedings,” the agency’s news release said. 

In an interview with CBC’s Power & Politics, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said consular officials had been in touch with Noviello as soon as they heard of his detention.

“At this point we are also seeking additional information relating to the circumstances of his passing away, and I’d like to extend my condolences to his family,” she said.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra posted a statement on social media saying his team is following the investigation into Noviello’s death. 

“We will keep the Canadian government informed as ICE completes its investigation,” he wrote in a post on X.

ICE crackdown

Noviello’s death comes as ICE agents are making sweeping arrests across the United States.

Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and the main architect of U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, has pushed ICE to aim for at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump’s second term.

Lawyer and policy analyst Richard Kurland says Noviello’s criminal history means that he meets Trump’s profile for priority removal.

He says the president’s focus on deporting criminals and “mass detention” comes with “great risk” to those in custody.

“You do not enjoy the luxury of isolated cells,” said Kurland. “You’re going to have physical interactions between detainees.”

Other Canadians detained

Noviello isn’t the only Canadian to have been arrested in the U.S. since the ICE sweeps began.

Global Affairs Canada told CBC News in a statement that it is aware of “several dozen cases of Canadians currently in immigration-related detention in the U.S.”

One Canadian, Jasmine Mooney from B.C., was arrested and held for nearly two weeks after trying to get a work visa renewed. She was released and returned to Canada in mid-March.

U.S. immigration lawyer Len Saunders, who represents Mooney, says he was surprised to hear of Noviello’s death.

“You don’t see a lot of Canadians in immigration detention in the United States,” he said.

Saunders says the detention system is complex — detainees can’t just say they want to be sent home.

“They have to go through the formal deportation proceedings, they have to see an immigration judge,” he said. 

Saunders says when Mooney was detained, one of her friends wanted to know how to speed up the process. His response was to go to the news.

“That’s the only reason I think Jasmine Mooney was released so quickly,” he said.

In the case of Noviello, Kurland says there’s nothing Canada could have done to prevent his death.

But he says Canada must try to negotiate an overall deal with the U.S. when it comes to the detention and deportation of its citizens — because the numbers of Canadians held by ICE will only grow.

“We need to act now to create a special protocol just for Canadian detainees,” he said. “That would relieve a lot of people in a bad situation.”