U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that at least 11 people died while in federal immigration custody between January 2026 and early March 2026. The agency provided case details for each deceased person, noting medical transfers, reported symptoms, and that some incidents remain under investigation. These reported fatalities come after ICE recorded 31 deaths in the previous year, which it described as a two-decade high.
The agency’s account lists individuals of varied nationalities, ages, and locations of death. Several cases involved transfers to outside hospitals after on-site staff reported medical concerns, while others were discovered unresponsive in detention cells or at detention-site housing. ICE’s statements describe specific medical conditions and circumstances in some instances and note ongoing inquiries in others.
Case summaries
Emanuel Cleeford Damas
Died: March 2 at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona
Nationality: Haitian
ICE said Damas was taken into custody following an arrest on assault and battery charges in Boston in September 2025 and was later moved to the Florence Detention Center in Florence, Arizona. He reported shortness of breath on February 19 and was sent to a local hospital, then transferred to a Phoenix facility and admitted to an intensive care unit. He was intubated and placed on a ventilator the next day, and died on March 2. ICE said the cause of death was unknown. In an interview with the Associated Press, Damas’s brother said the death was due to an untreated toothache and related infection. In response to requests for comment, the Department of Homeland Security referred to ICE’s public statement, which did not mention a dental issue.
Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi
Died: March 1 at a hospital in Natchez, Mississippi
Nationality: Iranian, Age: 59
ICE said Najafabadi was taken into custody in April 2025 following a conviction for fentanyl possession. The agency noted that he had several chronic health conditions but remained detained. In October 2025 he was transferred to the Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Angola, a facility opened under the Trump administration. On February 20, 2026, ICE health staff evaluated him and he was transferred to a hospital for long-term care. According to ICE, he went into cardiac arrest on March 1 and was later pronounced dead at Merit Health Hospital in Natchez.
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 reported feeling faint on February 25 and was admitted to Victor Valley Global Medical Center for chest pain and shortness of breath. ICE reported he became unresponsive and died on February 27. Los Angeles City Council member Eunisses Hernandez said her office had been in touch with his family and asserted that he had been denied medical care while in ICE custody. The Department of Homeland Security responded to a request for comment by saying 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 encountered by local police near Rochester, New York, on January 21, 2025, and taken into ICE custody. The agency described him as immunocompromised and "already in ill health" when detained. More than a year after his apprehension, ICE said he collapsed unexpectedly on February 16, 2026, and later died in a Miami hospital.
Lorth Sim
Died: February 16 at the Miami Correctional Facility in Miami County, Indiana
Nationality: Cambodian, Age: 59
Sim, who entered the United States as a refugee in 1983, had been ordered deported following several convictions, ICE said. He was detained after arriving at an ICE office in Boston on December 30, 2025, and transferred to the Indiana detention center. ICE staff found Sim unresponsive in his cell on February 16; staff and emergency personnel pronounced him dead. The agency said the incident is under investigation.
Victor Manuel Diaz
Died: January 14 at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas
Nationality: Nicaraguan, Age: 36
ICE said staff at the Camp East Montana detention center, on the grounds of Fort Bliss, found Diaz unconscious and unresponsive on January 14. He was pronounced dead shortly after discovery. The agency said the incident is under investigation and characterized 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
According to ICE, Sanchaz was detained after an arrest in Georgia for driving without a license. ICE said he was found "hanging by the neck and unresponsive in his sleeping quarters" and was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The agency stated the incident is under investigation.
Parady La
Died: January 9 at a hospital in Philadelphia
Nationality: Cambodian, Age: 46
ICE reported La was detained at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia following a January 6 arrest. The agency said he was being treated for "severe drug withdrawal" when he was found unresponsive in his cell. He was transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, 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 later moved to the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California. On January 4 he complained of chest pain and was transferred to a hospital; ICE reported he died two days later.
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 later taken to the Joe Corley Processing Center in Conroe, Texas. He was transferred to HCA Houston Healthcare in Conroe on December 23, 2025, "due to an exacerbation of congestive heart failure," according to ICE. After "multiple life-threatening medical emergencies," the agency said 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 reported that Campos died on January 3 at Camp East Montana and that staff initially said he experienced "medical distress." The agency said it was investigating the incident. Later reporting included accounts that a local coroner would likely rule the death a homicide, and an interview with a detainee who said he saw guards choking Campos when the detainee refused to enter solitary confinement. Following those reports, the Department of Homeland Security issued a new statement saying Campos attempted to take his own life while detained at the site, that security staff "immediately intervened to save his life," and that Campos "violently resisted" the security staff.
Context and agency response
ICE provided the case-by-case information as part of its public accounting of deaths in detention in early 2026. For some cases the agency cited specific medical conditions and sequences of care - including on-site evaluations, hospital transfers, diagnoses, and life-saving interventions - while for others it reported that the incidents are under investigation. The Department of Homeland Security offered a general statement, in some instances reiterating ICE’s account and, in at least one case, emphasizing that comprehensive medical care is provided to everyone in ICE detention.
What is known and what remains under review
The publicly released descriptions identify immediate circumstances surrounding each death but leave unanswered questions in a number of cases. ICE reported unknown causes in at least one death and noted ongoing investigations for several incidents. Statements from family members and local officials appear in the record for certain cases, and DHS responses restated ICE’s findings or emphasized care policies at detention facilities.
As reported by ICE, the 11 deaths from January through early March 2026 follow 31 deaths in the prior year, a level the agency characterized as the highest in two decades. The agency’s disclosures outline a variety of medical and situational factors leading to the deaths and show that occurrences took place at both detention centers and hospitals after transfers from ICE custody.
Next steps noted by authorities
ICE said it is investigating several of the incidents and that some deaths prompted hospital transfers and medical interventions prior to the individuals’ passing. The agency’s case summaries include references to ongoing probes and to statements from the Department of Homeland Security reiterating care standards in detention.
Where inquiries continue, ICE described the standard processes it followed - including medical evaluation by ICE health staff, hospital transfers when warranted, and notification of local authorities - while noting that final determinations about causes of death or other findings may be pending.