TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The death toll in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody reached 32 people in 2025, the highest level in the past two decades, as reported by The Guardian and cited by Bernama on Tuesday.
The deceased include newcomers seeking asylum as well as individuals who have been residing in the U.S. for years, some since childhood.
Some were taken into custody on criminal charges or after serving their sentences, while others were detained in mass ICE raids.
Their causes of death varied, ranging from medical conditions such as seizures, heart failure, stroke, respiratory failure, tuberculosis, to suicide, according to the report.
In some cases, family members and lawyers have alleged negligence and repeated denial of medical treatment that contributed to their deaths.
Meanwhile, according to a government press release last Sunday, four migrants died while in the custody of U.S. immigration authorities during the first 10 days of 2026.
These deaths included two migrants from Honduras, one from Cuba, and one from Cambodia, occurring between January 3-9, as reported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
As reported by El Pais, one of the deceased was Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, a 42-year-old citizen of Honduras. He passed away due to cardiac complications on January 5 at HCA Houston Healthcare in Conroe, Texas. He was transferred there from the Joe Corley Processing Center. ICE arrested him on November 17 during an operation in Houston. The recorded violation was illegal entry into the country.
The official statement reported that Cáceres was hospitalized on December 23 due to complications from congenital heart failure. On January 5, around 4:31 a.m. Central Time, he passed away at the hospital.
His brother, Marvis Nez, told Telemundo that in the detention center, the Honduran man "did not have access to medication" to address his condition. “He wasn’t treated in a timely manner, and his condition worsened,” he said. The family was able to see him for the last time through the emergency room glass.
Meanwhile, Parady La, a Cambodian migrant who arrived in the United States in 1981 as a refugee. Although he received legal permanent resident status, he lost that status “after committing a long list of crimes over two decades,” according to authorities.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that after his arrest on January 6, La received treatment for severe drug withdrawal symptoms at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Philadelphia. The next day, he was found unconscious in his cell.
“Local emergency medical services arrived and performed resuscitation efforts,” DHS reported. He was diagnosed with anoxic brain injury, post-cardiac arrest, shock, and multi-organ failure.
La eventually passed away on January 9 at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. His body collapsed: doctors reported total kidney failure and no brain activity.
This sharp spike in the death toll coincides with the Trump administration's efforts to detain the highest number of migrant individuals in history. According to ICE data, more than 69,000 adults were in ICE custody at the end of December 2025, up from about 36,000 people in December 2023.
These figures are expected to rise following a massive injection of funds for ICE approved by the U.S. Congress last year.
In 2026, ICE is much stronger: they have doubled their staff from 10,000 to 22,000 agents and gained power with the economic boost provided under what's called the "One Big Beautiful Bill." This rule increases ICE's budget to over US$100 billion, making it the best-funded institution in U.S. history.
Its agents are given the freedom to intimidate, apprehend, and even attempt to kill citizens.
Renee Good's death from a shooting in Minneapolis last Wednesday has become a real example of the deliberate ways in which immigration agents—in this case, the officer who pulled the trigger was from Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—act with the backing of those in power.
Read: FBI Takes Over Investigation of Fatal ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
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