ICE Reports 15 Deaths in Custody So Far in 2026 as Several Cases Remain Under Investigation

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reports that at least 15 people have died while in agency custody from January 2026 through early April 2026. Those deaths occurred across multiple detention centers and hospitals in several states. ICE noted that the number comes after 31 deaths recorded in the prior year, which it said was a two-decade high.

The cases involve detainees of varied nationalities and ages and include incidents described by ICE as medical emergencies, hospital transfers and presumed suicides. In many instances the agency has said the precise cause of death remains under investigation. Below is a case-by-case accounting based on information ICE has provided.

• Tuan Van Bui
  Died: April 1 at the Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill, Indiana
  Nationality: Vietnamese
  Age: 55

  ICE said Bui was found unresponsive and was declared dead at the scene. The agency indicated that the cause of death was still being investigated.

• Jose Guadalupe Ramos
  Died: March 25 at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Los Angeles
  Nationality: Mexican

  Ramos was discovered unconscious and unresponsive in his bunk by security staff, ICE said. On-site medical personnel were summoned and he was transported to a local hospital, where he was declared dead, according to the agency.

• Royer Perez Jimenez
  Died: March 16 at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida
  Nationality: Mexican
  Age: 19

  ICE characterized Perez Jimenez’s death as a presumed suicide while noting that the formal cause remained under investigation. He was found unresponsive in the early hours and detention staff attempted to resuscitate him for nearly 10 minutes without success, according to ICE.

• Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal
  Died: March 14 at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas
  Nationality: Afghan
  Age: 41

  According to a U.S. veteran-led advocacy group cited by ICE, Paktyawal had worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan and later sought asylum in the United States. The agency said he died in custody less than 24 hours after being detained in Texas. ICE reported that medical staff observed his tongue had become swollen while he was eating breakfast, prompting a medical response; after multiple attempts at resuscitation he was declared dead.

• Emanuel Cleeford Damas
  Died: March 2 at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona
  Nationality: Haitian

  ICE took Damas into custody after an arrest on assault and battery charges in September 2025 in Boston, the agency said. He was later transferred to the Florence Detention Center in Florence, Arizona. ICE reported that on February 19 Damas complained of shortness of breath and was sent to a local hospital; he was then transferred to a Phoenix hospital and placed in an intensive care unit. The agency said he was intubated and died on March 2, with the cause of death listed as unknown by ICE.

  In an interview mentioned by ICE, Damas’s brother told the Associated Press that he believed an untreated toothache and related infection caused his death. Inquiries to the Department of Homeland Security about that specific assertion were referred to ICE’s public statement, which did not reference any dental issues.

• Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi
  Died: March 1 at a hospital in Natchez, Mississippi
  Nationality: Iranian
  Age: 59

  ICE said it took Karshenas into custody in April 2025 after a conviction for fentanyl possession. The agency noted he had several chronic health conditions but remained detained, with a transfer in October 2025 to the Louisiana ICE Processing Center. On February 20, 2026, ICE health staff evaluated him and arranged a transfer to a hospital for long-term care. The agency reported that Karshenas went into cardiac arrest on March 1 and was pronounced dead at Merit Health Hospital in Natchez, Mississippi.

• Alberto Gutierrez Reyes
  Died: February 27 at a medical center in Victorville, California
  Nationality: Mexican
  Age: 48

  ICE said Gutierrez was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Los Angeles in January. He reportedly felt faint on February 25 and was admitted to Victor Valley Global Medical Center for chest pain and shortness of breath. ICE reported that he became unresponsive and died on February 27.

  Los Angeles City Council member Eunisses Hernandez stated that her office had been in contact with his family and that they alleged he was denied medical care while in ICE custody. The Department of Homeland Security, in response to inquiries referenced by ICE, said comprehensive medical care is provided to everyone in ICE detention.

• Jairo Garcia Hernandez
  Died: February 16 at a hospital in Miami
  Nationality: Guatemalan
  Age: 27

  ICE said Garcia was taken into custody after being encountered by local police near Rochester, New York, on January 21, 2025. The agency described him as immunocompromised and "already in ill health" at the time of detention. More than a year after his initial encounter with police, on February 16, 2026, ICE reported he collapsed unexpectedly and died after being in custody.

• Lorth Sim
  Died: February 16 at the Miami Correctional Facility in Miami County, Indiana
  Nationality: Cambodian
  Age: 59

  ICE stated Sim entered the U.S. as a refugee in 1983 and later faced deportation orders following several convictions. He was detained after presenting himself at an ICE office in Boston on December 30, 2025, and was transferred to the Indiana detention center. On February 16 ICE staff found him unresponsive in his cell; staff and emergency personnel pronounced him dead. ICE said the incident was under investigation.

• Victor Manuel Diaz
  Died: January 14 at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas
  Nationality: Nicaraguan
  Age: 36

  ICE reported that staff at the detention center - located on the grounds of Fort Bliss - found Diaz unconscious and unresponsive in his room on January 14, and he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. ICE said the case was under investigation and described the death as a "presumed suicide."

• Heber Sanchaz Domínguez
  Died: January 14 at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Center in Lovejoy, Georgia
  Nationality: Mexican
  Age: 34

  ICE said Sanchaz was detained after being arrested in Georgia for driving without a license. The agency reported he was found "hanging by the neck and unresponsive in his sleeping quarters" and was later pronounced dead at an area hospital. ICE stated the incident is under investigation.

• Parady La
  Died: January 9 at a hospital in Philadelphia
  Nationality: Cambodian
  Age: 46

  ICE said La was being held at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia after an arrest on January 6. The agency reported he was being treated for "severe drug withdrawal" when found unresponsive in his cell. He was transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where ICE said he was diagnosed with brain and organ failure and declared deceased on January 9.

• Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
  Died: January 6 at a hospital in Indio, California
  Nationality: Honduran
  Age: 68

  ICE said Beltran was arrested by federal immigration officers in Newark, New Jersey, in November and was subsequently held at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California. On January 4 he complained of chest pain and was taken to a hospital; ICE reported that he died there on January 6.

• Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
  Died: January 5 at a Houston-area hospital
  Nationality: Honduran
  Age: 42

  ICE said Nunez was arrested in an immigration operation in Houston on November 17, 2025, and was detained at the Joe Corley Processing Center in Conroe, Texas. The agency reported that on December 23, 2025, he was transferred to HCA Houston Healthcare in Conroe due to an exacerbation of congestive heart failure. Following what ICE described as multiple life-threatening medical emergencies, he was pronounced dead on January 5.

• Geraldo Lunas Campos
  Died: January 3 at Camp East Montana detention center in El Paso, Texas
  Nationality: Cuban
  Age: 55

  ICE stated Lunas died on January 3 at Camp East Montana, a detention site opened on the grounds of Fort Bliss in Texas. Initially, the agency said he experienced "medical distress" and that the incident was under investigation. Subsequent reporting indicated the local coroner would likely rule the death a homicide and included interview material from a detainee alleging guards choked Lunas after he refused to enter solitary confinement.

  Following that reporting, the Department of Homeland Security issued a new statement saying Lunas attempted to take his own life while detained at the site. DHS said security staff "immediately intervened to save his life" and that Lunas "violently resisted" those efforts.

ICE provided the agency-specific accounts summarized above. Several of the incidents remain under investigation, and in a number of cases ICE noted uncertainty about the official cause of death. The federal agency also indicated that some individuals were transferred to hospitals after showing medical distress, while others were found unresponsive at detention facilities and declared dead at the scene or after transport.

The tally of 15 deaths recorded by ICE so far this year follows the agency's report of 31 deaths in custody in the previous year. ICE previously described that total as a two-decade high.