Death Toll Expected to Rise: Justice for Those in Detention
Editor’s Note: Individuals who have passed away at the hands of ICE will not be forgotten. For a full list, please visit the National Immigration Project’s website.
Detainees in ICE detention are pleading for help due to inhumane conditions. Contaminated water, fouled food, and denial to medical treatment are just some examples of the many cruel realities detainees are facing. After the public murders of Lorenzo Salgado Arao, Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, Alex Pretti, and Renée Good, many are highlighting the deaths happening inside detention centers. As of August 4 of 2026, at least 24 detainees have died in custody this year alone. In 2025, the number was higher at 33 reported deaths, the highest compared to decades before.
Two months ago, protests erupted outside of Delaney Hall in New Jersey after detainees launched a hunger strike, demanding improved medical care and living conditions. Detainees were served maggot filled food and were refused medication deemed necessary for them to live, such as insulin. While horrible conditions have always existed in detention centers, 2026 is set to be ICE’s deadliest year yet, with more than 65,000 immigrants currently detained. Years of systematic failure has led to mistreatment of immigrants in detention centers, where 70% of detainees have no criminal convictions.
A leaked video of detainees in a detention center has recently gone viral on social media where they speak of medical mistreatment and overcrowding in the River Center ICE Detention Center in Louisiana. One detainee describes how 76 people are held in a single cell, some even sick with conjunctivitis and tuberculosis while also being fed expired food. The video was spread in hopes it would reach health authorities and the media and raise awareness of ongoing issues within detention centers. People in the video comments have already reacted with similar stories of how they had to sleep on cold floors and family members currently detained have been sick for over seven months while in custody.
Apart from the cruel conditions in the detention centers, ICE has recently rescinded a Biden era 2021 policy, which forced ICE to report deaths of detainees who were recently released from custody. The policy was created so ICE would be held accountable for any deaths resulting from illness while in ICE custody. One epidemiologist, Dr. Sanjay Basu from the University of California-San Francisco, stated,
“Missed diagnoses, interrupted medications, untreated infections, and decompensating chronic conditions don’t always kill someone while they’re still in the building.”
Medical mistreatment and lack of medication leads to death in those who badly need medical care. It is clear that detention centers cannot and will not address this issue, so with the rescinding of the Biden era’s 2021 policy, the numbers of detainees who passed away right after release will appear much lower and decrease the overall mortality rate, without any real fix to the root of the issue. It is a sneaky tactic of the administration to skew reported numbers.
ICE has also directly avoided transparency in reporting deaths in detention centers. One group, Physicians for Human Rights, found that in all cases of deaths in detention, the government did not provide enough information and evidence regarding the circumstances of death or medical care the detainee was provided. The lack of documentation is concerning as more people are crowded into detention centers, and have been found to violate UN standards. The deaths in detention centers may be violating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the mistreatment violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Mandela Rules).
One specific population that has experienced grave medical mistreatment is pregnant detainees. ICE policy specifies that pregnant individuals should only be detained under “exemptional circumstances,” yet this number has continued to rise since early 2025. Those pregnant have experienced miscarriages, complications, medical distress, and malnutrition. One Nicaraguan immigrant describes her experience with a miscarriage, where she was left in the dark about what was happening to her pregnancy. The ACLU also documented medical abuse and neglect such as invasive procedures performed without informed consent, denial of pre-natal vitamins, use of shackles, and more.
Ultimately, the number of detainees who will die in ICE custody in 2026 will continue to rise as these inhumane conditions continue. While protests have brought the issue to light, it is clear more needs to be done. Reform needs to be sought, such as congressional action, away from increases to funding for ICE ($70 billion added just recently). One would think they would have the resources to at least support detainees in detention centers, but this is not the case, conveying where the administration’s true priorities are. The majority of detainees are innocent, and this in itself is a threat to democracy. It is clear ICE detention has led to clear human rights violations in a country that boasts of democracy, fairness, and justice.
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