CHICAGO (WLS) — For numerous families in Chicago, “North Lake” carries a weighty significance that can feel foreboding.
Situated in the rural expanse of Baldwin, Michigan, the North Lake Correctional Facility has become a pivotal location for many. In the past year, this center has housed hundreds of individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), standing as one of the Midwest’s most sizable detention facilities.
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While some detainees have faced deportation or returned to Chicago through legal perseverance, one man’s story took a tragic turn he will never return from.
Nenko Gantchev, a 56-year-old detainee, passed away on December 15, 2025, at the North Lake facility. His death adds to a growing list of fatalities in ICE detention centers nationwide, where there are heightened worries about the quality of conditions and medical care provided to detainees.
This troubling trend has prompted lawmakers to question the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about the increasing number of deaths. In response, the DHS Inspector General’s office has declared an examination into the conditions prevailing within these detention centers.
DHS officials have been adamant there is no spike in deaths, and that while people are housed by ICE, they receive “the best healthcare they have received