March 10, 2026 — SUNTV Global Channel
At least 11 immigrants have died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) between January and early March 2026, according to newly released agency data, raising serious concerns about detention conditions and access to medical care inside the United States immigration system.
The latest figures have intensified scrutiny from human rights advocates and lawmakers, especially after 31 detainees died in ICE custody in 2025 — the highest annual number recorded in nearly two decades.
The deceased detainees came from several countries including Haiti, Iran, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Cambodia. Their deaths occurred in various detention centers and hospitals across the United States under circumstances ranging from medical emergencies to suspected suicide.
One of the most recent cases involved 34-year-old Haitian national Emanuel Cleeford Damas, who died on March 2 at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona.
According to ICE, Damas had been arrested in Boston in September 2025 on assault and battery charges before being transferred to the Florence Detention Center in Arizona. Authorities said he complained of breathing difficulties on February 19 and was taken to a local hospital before being moved to another facility in Phoenix where he was placed in intensive care and put on a ventilator.
ICE stated that the exact cause of his death remains unknown.
However, a relative speaking to the Associated Press disputed the official account, claiming Damas died after an untreated tooth infection worsened while he was in custody.
Another detainee, 59-year-old Iranian national Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi, died on March 1 after suffering cardiac arrest at a hospital in Natchez, Mississippi.
ICE said Najafabadi had been detained since April 2025 following a conviction for fentanyl possession. He was later transferred to the Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Angola — a facility established during the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Officials stated that he had several chronic health conditions and had been receiving long-term hospital care before his cardiac arrest.
In another controversial case, 48-year-old Mexican national Alberto Gutierrez Reyes died on February 27 at a medical center in Victorville, California.
Authorities said Reyes complained of chest pain and breathing difficulties before being hospitalized, where he later became unresponsive.
However, Los Angeles City Council member Eunisses Hernandez alleged that Reyes had been denied adequate medical treatment while detained — an accusation federal authorities deny.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has insisted that detainees in immigration custody receive “comprehensive medical care.”
Several other deaths were recorded earlier in the year.
Guatemalan national Jairo Garcia Hernandez, 27, died in Miami on February 16 after collapsing unexpectedly more than a year after his detention. On the same day, Cambodian refugee Lorth Sim, 59, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana.
Two deaths were also recorded on January 14. Nicaraguan national Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, was found unconscious at a detention center in El Paso, Texas, in what authorities described as a presumed suicide.
That same day, 34-year-old Mexican detainee Heber Sanchaz Domínguez was discovered hanging in his sleeping quarters at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Center in Georgia.
Earlier incidents include the death of Cambodian national Parady La, 46, on January 9 after suffering severe drug withdrawal while detained in Philadelphia.
Two Honduran nationals — 68-year-old Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz and 42-year-old Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres — also died in early January after experiencing medical emergencies in ICE custody.
One of the most controversial cases involved Cuban national Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, who died on January 3 at the Camp East Montana detention facility in El Paso, Texas.
While ICE initially reported that he suffered “medical distress,” later reports cited by The Washington Post indicated a local coroner was considering ruling the death a homicide after another detainee alleged guards choked him during a confrontation.
The Department of Homeland Security later revised its statement, saying Lunas had attempted to take his own life and had violently resisted officers who tried to intervene.
The growing number of deaths is fueling renewed debate in the United States over the treatment of migrants held in immigration detention facilities, with advocacy groups calling for independent investigations and improved medical oversight.
Reporting by SUNTV Global Channel.
