With the highest number of deaths recorded in the last two decades, 2025 closed as the deadliest year for people in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Until mid-December, according to official data from the agencyAt least 32 deaths were recorded, highlighting a deep humanitarian crisis in the United States immigration detention system.

In his publications, Austin Kocher, teacher The Syracuse University representative mentioned that most of the deaths occurred in detention centers or hospitals.

People who died in ICE custody in 2025

*Source: ICE and human rights organizations

Related: Organizations denounce escalating ICE violence after woman's death in Minneapolis and assault on citizens in North Carolina

2026, five deaths in just 15 days

At the beginning of 2026, the agency reported that five people died in its custody in the first 15 days of the year.

“There have been no improvements; the situation has worsened. If the current rate continues, with one death every three days, 2026 could end with up to 122 deaths in custody,” Kocher warned.

The names of the deceased are:

• Parady The, 46 years old, arrested in the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center (FDC)Pennsylvania. He died on January 9.
• Luis Beltrán Yáñez-Cruz, 68 years old, arrested in the Imperial Regional Detention CenterCalifornia. He died on January 6.
• Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55 years old, arrested in Camp East Montana (Ft. Bliss)Texas. He died on January 3.
• Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, 42 years old, arrested in the Joe Corley Processing Center, in Texas. He died on January 5.
• A Mexican citizen He died on January 14, 2026, while in ICE custody at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility, located in Lovejoy, Clayton, Georgia.

Geraldo Lunas Campos, his death is believed to be a homicide

Also last week, it was reported that a Cuban immigrant who had lived in the United States for nearly three decades died in an immigration detention center in Texas after an altercation with custodial staff.

While the government maintained that it was a suicide, the medical examiner determined that the death should be classified as a homicide.

According to authorities, Campos allegedly attempted suicide and staff intervened to save him; however, a witness stated that the man died after being handcuffed, thrown to the ground, and subjected to a chokehold until he lost consciousness.

Related: Salisbury family denounces “racist and violent detention” of American citizens by ICE agents

They are calling for a transparent investigation.

On the other hand, through a press release, the Consulate of Mexico in Atlanta He reported on Thursday, January 15, about the death of a fellow countryman who was in ICE custody.

The consular office also requested “a full investigation into the incident and a clear and transparent inquiry.” Furthermore, consular authorities indicated that they will repatriate the remains to Mexico, in accordance with the family's wishes.

At the moment, the US government has not clarified the cause of death.

“Fatal Flaws”

According to the report “Deadly Failures” (Fatal Failures), 95% of deaths in detention centers were considered preventable or possibly preventable if ICE had provided adequate and timely medical care.

The report was published in 2024 by the ACLU, American Oversight, Physicians for Human Rights and independent medical experts.

This report adds to a long list of investigations documenting systematic neglect in immigration detention centers, including:

• Code Red: The fatal consequences of dangerously poor medical care in immigration detention
• Fatal Negligence: How ICE Ignores Deaths in Detention
• Systemic indifference: dangerous and inadequate medical care in immigration detention in the United States

Related: Trump has canceled the legal status of more than 1.5 million immigrants since taking office.

ICE kills: a structural violence

Faced with this reality, Setareh Ghandehari, director of advocacy Detention Watch NetworkHe described ICE as a violent agency.

“ICE kills — plain and simple. Whether ICE is targeting people on the streets, at their workplaces, in their homes, or behind closed doors in one of its nearly 200 abuse-ridden detention centers across the country, ICE is an inherently violent agency that endangers families and the safety of our communities.”

PODCAST

After the storm

A year ago, Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina. The Latino community responded with something stronger than the storm: solidarity.

🎧 In this episode, learn how Latino organizations transformed crisis into resilience.

▶️Press play to listen!

Republish This Story

Republish our stories for free on your website or newspaper. We follow the Creative Commons license. Click the box and follow the instructions.

close window

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

"This article may be republished for free under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Enlace Latino NC authorizes the reproduction of this content in newspapers and digital platforms, provided that the integrity of the text is maintained and that it is cited Enlace Latino NC and the author of the story to be republished as the primary source. If you publish the story in a digital news outlet or website, you must include a link to our website: www.enlacelatinonc.org

If you wish to make edits to the content to be republished, please contact our editorial team at walter@enlacelatinonc.org to obtain the corresponding permit."

Record number of deaths in ICE custody and a 2026 that could be even deadlier

by Walter Gomez, Enlace Latino NC
January 20, 2026

Enlace Latino NC<br />January 20, 2026</p> <div class="wp-block-custom-everlit-iframe-embed"></div> <p>Con la cifra más alta de fallecimientos registrados en las últimas dos décadas, 2025 cerró como el año más letal para personas bajo custodia del Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE).</p> <p>Hasta mediados de diciembre, <a href="https://enlacelatinonc.org/ice-arresto-a-mas-de-3300-personas-en-carolina-del-norte-durante-los-primeros-9-meses-de-trump-en-el-cargo/">según datos oficiales de la agencia</a>, se registraron al menos 32 muertes, lo que evidencia una profunda crisis humanitaria en el sistema de detención migratoria de Estados Unidos.</p> <p><span style="margin: 0px;padding: 0px">En sus publicaciones, <a href="https://substack.com/@austinkocher" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Austin Kocher</a>, profesor</span> de la Universidad de Syracuse, mencionó que la mayoría de las muertes ocurrieron en centros de detención o en hospitales.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-personas-fallecidas-bajo-custodia-de-ice-en-2025"><strong>Personas fallecidas bajo custodia de ICE en 2025</strong></h2> <figure class="wp-block-table"> <table class="has-background has-fixed-layout" style="background-color:#fff3cf"> <thead> <tr> <th>Nombre</th> <th class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">Edad</th> <th>País de origen</th> <th>Fecha de fallecimiento</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Genry Ruiz Guillén</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">29</td> <td>Honduras</td> <td>23 de enero de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Serawit Gezahegn Dejene</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">45</td> <td>Etiopía</td> <td>29 de enero de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Maksym Chernyak</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">44</td> <td>Ucrania</td> <td>20 de febrero de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Juan Alexis Tineo-Martínez</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">44</td> <td>República Dominicana</td> <td>23 de febrero de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Brayan Garzón-Rayo</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">27</td> <td>Colombia</td> <td>8 de abril de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Nhon Ngoc Nguyen</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">55</td> <td>Vietnam</td> <td>16 de abril de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Marie Ange Blaise</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">44</td> <td>Haití</td> <td>23 de abril de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">68</td> <td>México</td> <td>5 de mayo de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Jesús Molina-Veya</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">45</td> <td>México</td> <td>27 de junio de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Johnny Noviello</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">49</td> <td>Canadá</td> <td>23 de junio de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Isidro Pérez</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">75</td> <td>Cuba</td> <td>26 de junio de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Tien Xuan Phan</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">55</td> <td>Vietnam</td> <td>19 de junio de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Chaofeng Ge</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">32</td> <td>China</td> <td>5 de agosto de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">32</td> <td>México</td> <td>31 de agosto de 2025</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Óscar Rascón Duarte</td> <td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">58</td> <td>México</td> <td>8 de sept. of 2025 Santos Banegas Reyes 42 Honduras September 18 of 2025 Ismael Ayala-Uribe 39 Mexico September 22 of 2025 Norlan Guzman-Fuentes 37 El Salvador September 29th of 2025 Miguel Ángel García Medina 31 Mexico September 29 of 2025 Huabing Xie 51 China September 29 of 2025 Leo Cruz-Silva 34 Mexico October 10, 2025 Hasan Ali Moh'D Saleh 67 Jordan October 11, 2025 Josué Castro Rivera 25 Honduras October 23, 2025 Gabriel Garcia Aviles 54 Mexico October 23, 2025 Kai Yin Wong 63 China October 25, 2025 Francisco Gaspar-Andres 48 Guatemala December 3, 2025 Pete Sumalo Montejo 72 Philippines December 5, 2025 Shiraz Fatehali Sachwani 48 Pakistan December 6, 2025 Jean Wilson Brutus 41 Haiti December 12, 2025 Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir 46 Eritrea December 14, 2025 Delvin Francisco Rodriguez 39 Nicaragua December 14, 2025 Nenko Stanev Gantchev 56 Bulgaria December 15, 2025 * Source: ICE and human rights organizations Related: Organizations denounce escalating ICE violence after woman's death in Minneapolis and assault on citizens in North Carolina 2026, five deaths in just 15 days At the beginning of 2026, the agency reported that five people died in its custody in the first 15 days of the year. “There have been no improvements; the situation has worsened. “If the current rate continues, with one death every three days, 2026 could end with up to 122 deaths in custody,” Kocher warned. The names of the deceased are: Parady La , 46 years old, detained at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. He died on January 9th. Luis Beltrán Yáñez-Cruz , 68 years old, detained at the Imperial Regional Detention Center , California. He died on January 6. Geraldo Lunas Campos , 55 years old, arrested in Camp East Montana (Ft. Bliss), Texas. He died on January 3rd. Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres , 42 years old, detained at the Joe Corley Processing Center in Texas. He died on January 5th. A Mexican citizen died on January 14, 2026, while in ICE custody at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility, located in Lovejoy, Clayton, Georgia. Geraldo Lunas Campos, his death is believed to be a homicide Also last week, it was reported that a Cuban immigrant who had lived in the United States for nearly three decades died in an immigration detention center in Texas after an altercation with custodial staff. While the government maintained that it was a suicide, the medical examiner determined that the death should be classified as a homicide. According to authorities, Campos allegedly attempted suicide and staff intervened to save him; however, a witness stated that the man died after being handcuffed, thrown to the ground, and subjected to a chokehold until he lost consciousness. Related: Salisbury family denounces “racist and violent detention” of American citizens by ICE agents They are calling for a transparent investigation. On the other hand, through a press release, the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta reported on Thursday, January 15, about the death of a Mexican national who was in ICE custody. Likewise, the consular representation requested "the clarification of the facts and a clear and transparent investigation." In addition, consular authorities indicated that they will repatriate the remains to Mexico, in accordance with the wishes of his family. At the moment, the US government has not clarified the cause of death. "Fatal Flaws" According to the report “Deadly Failures” , 95% of deaths in detention centers were considered preventable or possibly preventable if ICE had provided adequate and timely medical care. The report was published in 2024 by the ACLU, American Oversight, Physicians for Human Rights and independent medical experts. This report adds to a long list of investigations documenting systematic neglect in immigration detention centers, including: Code Red: The fatal consequences of dangerously poor medical care in immigration detention Fatal Negligence: How ICE Ignores Deaths in Detention Systemic indifference: dangerous and inadequate medical care in immigration detention in the United States Related: Trump has canceled the legal status of more than 1.5 million immigrants since taking office ICE kills: a structural violence Given this reality, Setareh Ghandehari , advocacy director of the Detention Watch Network , described ICE as a violent agency. “ICE kills — no beating around the bush. Whether ICE is targeting people on the streets, in their workplaces, in their homes, or behind closed doors in one of its nearly 200 abuse-ridden detention centers across the country, ICE is an inherently violent agency that endangers families and the safety of our communities. On Thursday, January 8, hundreds of people joined their voices in the city of Durham demanding justice for the murder of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of an ICE agent in Minneapolis/Walter Gomez, ELNC This <a target="_blank" href="https://enlacelatinonc.org/record-de-muertes-bajo-custodia-de-ice-en-2025/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://enlacelatinonc.org">Enlace Latino NCand is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: "https://enlacelatinonc.org/record-de-muertes-bajo-custodia-de-ice-en-4.0/", urlref: window.location.href }); } }

Copy to clipboard

1