Four migrants die in US immigration custody over first 10 days of 2026

Federal agents stand, following an incident where a civilian's car was hit by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, Jan 12, 2026. REUTERS/Tim Evans

Four migrants died while in custody of US immigration authorities over the first 10 days of 2026, according to government press releases, a loss of life that followed record detention deaths last year under President Donald Trump.

The deaths included two migrants from Honduras, one from Cuba and another from Cambodia, and occurred from Jan 3-9, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Trump administration aims to ramp up deportations and has increased the number of migrants in detention. As of Jan 7, ICE statistics showed that the agency was detaining 69,000 people. The numbers were expected to rise following a massive ICE funding infusion passed by the US Congress last year.

At least 30 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the highest level in two decades, agency figures showed.

Setareh Ghandehari, advocacy director at Detention Watch Network, called the high number of deaths "truly staggering" and urged the administration to shutter detention centres.

US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the rate of deaths had remained in step with historic norms as the detention population has climbed.

“As bed space has expanded, we have maintained (a) higher standard of care than most prisons that hold US citizens — including providing access to proper medical care," McLaughlin said.

The Cuban detainee, Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, died on Jan 3 in Camp East Montana, a detention site opened by the Trump administration on the grounds of Fort Bliss in Texas.

ICE said it was investigating the death of Lunas, adding that officials said he had become disruptive and placed him in isolation. Officials later found him in distress, and emergency medical technicians pronounced him dead, ICE said.

The two Honduran men - Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, 42, and Luis Beltran Yanez–Cruz, 68 - died in area hospitals in Houston and Indio, California, on Jan 5 and 6, respectively, both following heart-related issues, ICE said.

Parady La, a Cambodian man, 46, died on Jan 9 following severe drug withdrawal symptoms at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia, ICE said. The administration began using that space last year, it said.

The Trump administration has greatly reduced the number of migrants released from detention on humanitarian grounds, a move critics say has driven some to accept deportation.

In addition to the in-custody deaths, an ICE officer fatally shot a Minnesota mother of three last week, an incident that sparked protests in Minneapolis and cities around the country.