Alliance Alert: The Alliance for Rights and Recovery stands with our partners in the POWER Coalition in calling for justice and accountability following the tragic death of Daphy Michel. As an active member of the POWER Coalition, we remain committed to advancing policies that uphold the dignity, rights, and humanity of people with mental health and substance use challenges, including immigrants and other marginalized communities. We support the Coalition’s call for a full investigation into Ms. Michel’s death and will continue working alongside national partners to advocate for compassionate, community-based responses that protect vulnerable individuals rather than subjecting them to neglect, institutionalization, or other harmful practices. See below for the full statement from the POWER Coalition.聽
The POWER Coalition Demands Justice for Daphy Michel
WASHINGTON, DC (June 22, 2026) 鈥 The People Organized for Wellness, Empowerment, and Recovery Coalition (POWER-C), a national organization led by people with lived experience of mental health and addiction conditions, issued a call today for justice and full accountability in the death of 31-year-old Daphy Michel, who had been held in detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to NBC News (), Ms. Michel, a Haitian asylum seeker with mental health conditions, was released and left by ICE on a steel transit bench with only a hooded sweatshirt for warmth. Over the course of the next three days, video cameras filmed her while she stayed on the bench, only to collapse due to hypothermia. Emergency responders transported her to a hospital, where she died on March 2.
On June 12, the Allegheny County medical examiner鈥檚 office issued a ruling that her death was due to homicide, stating: 鈥淭he opinion of the forensic pathologist in this case is that Ms. Michel was a vulnerable adult, suffering from untreated severe mental health issues and a significant language barrier when she was released from federal custody on February 27. Based on all available information during the investigation, the pathologist ruled Ms. Michel鈥檚 death a homicide.鈥
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, wrote in an email that 鈥淚CE had NOTHING to do with this woman鈥檚 death. She passed away THREE days after ICE encountered her.鈥
It is uncertain whether Pennsylvania officials will open any further investigation into her death.
Daphy Michel’s death comes amid the Trump administration’s continued ICE enforcement actions, which have been widely condemned for disproportionately targeting vulnerable populations, including immigrants and people with disabilities, among them people living with mental health conditions.
Recent reports have cited high rates of suicide in ICE detention centers as well as frequent use of seclusion for detainees with mental health problems. President Trump has also issued Executive Orders calling for increased forced mental health treatment and a return to long-term institutionalization along with budget reductions for community-based care.
鈥淲e demand justice for Daphy Michel,鈥 stated POWER Coalition Co-Chair Paolo del Vecchio, who is a former Federal official. 鈥淗er tragic death was due to the negligence and ongoing abuses perpetuated by the Trump administration and ICE.鈥
The death of Daphy Michel is similar to that of another person with disabilities, Nurul Amin Shah Alam, in February in Buffalo. A visually impaired refugee, Mr. Alam was left outside a closed coffee shop on a cold winter night, and his body was found days later. His death was also ruled a homicide, and an investigation is ongoing.
鈥淥nce again, people of color and individuals with disabilities 鈥 including those with mental health issues 鈥 are dying due to the actions of ICE and this Administration,” stated Arc Telos Saint Amour, POWER Coalition Co-Chair and Executive Director of Youth MOVE National. 鈥淲e demand a full public investigation to hold the responsible parties accountable.鈥
Daphy Michel鈥檚 brother, with whom she lived, never received a phone call from ICE notifying him that she had been released. He only learned of her passing when a morgue contacted him three days later.
An obituary for Daphy Michel posted by a local funeral home stated: 鈥淒aphy was a person with a kind heart, who loved her family very much鈥he was always ready to help those who needed her help and her presence brought joy and happiness and light into the lives of all who knew her.鈥
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The P.O.W.E.R. (People Organized for Wellness, Empowerment and Recovery) Coalition is dedicated to promoting equity and intersectional centered policies and practices that protect the rights and promote recovery for all people who experience mental health and/or addiction conditions. For more information, please visit our website at and contact us at: Paolo del Vecchio (he/him), pdv1820@gmail.com | Arc Telos Saint Amour (they/them), telos@youthmovenational.org