By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - At least 11 immigrants have died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody from January 2026 through early March, according to ICE. That follows 31 deaths last year, a two-decade high.
Emanuel Cleeford Damas
Died: March 2 at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona
Nationality: Haitian
ICE took Damas into custody after he was arrested on assault and battery charges in September 2025 in Boston, ICE said. Damas was transferred to the Florence Detention Center in Florence, Arizona. ICE said he reported shortness of breath on February 19 and was sent to a local hospital and then transferred to a Phoenix hospital and placed in an intensive care unit.
He was intubated on a ventilator the following day and died on March 2, with the cause unknown, ICE said. In an interview with the Associated Press, his brother said he had died due to an untreated toothache and related infection.
In response to a request for comment, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security referred to ICE's public statement, which did not mention any dental issue.
Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi
Died: March 1 at a hospital in Natchez, Mississippi
Nationality: Iranian
Age: 59
ICE took Karshenas into custody in April 2025 after he was convicted of fentanyl possession, ICE said. He had several chronic health conditions but remained detained and was transferred in October 2025 to Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Angola, a facility opened under the Trump administration, according to ICE.
On February 20, 2026, ICE health staff evaluated him again and he was then transferred to a hospital for long-term care, where he went into cardiac arrest on March 1. He was transferred to the Merit Health Hospital in Natchez, Mississippi, where he was pronounced deceased, ICE said.
Alberto Gutierrez Reyes
Died: February 27 at a medical center in Victorville, California
Nationality: Mexican
Age: 48
Gutierrez was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Los Angeles in January, ICE said. He reported feeling faint on February 25 and was admitted to Victor Valley Global Medical Center for chest pain and shortness of breath, ICE said. He became unresponsive and died on February 27, ICE said.
Los Angeles City Council member Eunisses Hernandez said in a statement that her office had been in touch with his family and that he had been denied medical care while in ICE custody.
In response to a request for comment, the Department of Homeland Security said 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 took Garcia into custody after he was encountered by local police near Rochester, New York, on January 21, 2025, the agency said. ICE said he was immunocompromised and was "already in ill health" when he was detained. On February 16, 2026, more than a year after he was taken into custody, he collapsed unexpectedly and died, according to ICE.
Lorth Sim
Died: February 16 at the Miami Correctional Facility in Miami County, Indiana
Nationality: Cambodian
Age: 59
Sim entered the U.S. as a refugee in 1983 but 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 then transferred to the Indiana detention center, the agency said.
ICE staff found Sim unresponsive in his cell on February 16 and he was pronounced dead by staff and emergency personnel, ICE said, adding that the incident was under investigation.
Victor Manuel Diaz
Died: January 14 at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas
Nationality: Nicaraguan
Age: 36
Staff at the detention center, which is located on the grounds of Fort Bliss, found Diaz unconscious and unresponsive in his room on January 14 and he was pronounced dead shortly after, ICE said. ICE said the incident was under investigation but that he died of "presumed suicide."
Heber Sanchaz Domínguez
Died: January 14 at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Center in Lovejoy, Georgia
Nationality: Mexican
Age: 34
Sanchaz was detained by ICE after being arrested in Georgia for driving without a license, ICE said. He was found "hanging by the neck and unresponsive in his sleeping quarters" and later pronounced dead at an area hospital, ICE said. The agency said the incident is under investigation.
Parady La
Died: January 9 at a hospital in Philadelphia
Nationality: Cambodian
Age: 46
ICE said La was being detained at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia after a January 6 arrest and was being treated for "severe drug withdrawal" when he was found unresponsive in his cell. He was transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital where he was diagnosed with brain and organ failure and declared deceased on January 9, ICE said.
Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
Died: January 6 at a hospital in Indio, California
Nationality: Honduran
Age: 68
Beltran was arrested by federal immigration officers in Newark, New Jersey, in November, according to ICE. At some point, he was moved to the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California. On January 4, he complained of chest pain and was transferred to a hospital where he died two days later, ICE said.
Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
Died: January 5 at a Houston-area hospital
Nationality: Honduran
Age: 42
Nunez was arrested during an immigration operation in Houston on November 17, 2025, ICE said. He was eventually taken to Joe Corley Processing Center in Conroe, Texas.
He was transferred to HCA Houston Healthcare in Conroe "due to an exacerbation of congestive heart failure" on December 23, 2025, ICE said. After "multiple life-threatening medical emergencies," he was pronounced dead on January 5, ICE said.
Geraldo Lunas Campos
Died: January 3 at Camp East Montana detention center in El Paso, Texas
Nationality: Cuban
Age: 55
Lunas died on January 3 in Camp East Montana, a detention site opened by the Trump administration on the grounds of Fort Bliss in Texas, according to ICE. The agency initially said he experienced "medical distress" and that they were investigating the incident.
The Washington Post reported later that month that the local coroner would likely rule the death a homicide. The Post also interviewed a detainee held at the Camp East Montana site who said he saw guards choking Lunas when he refused to enter solitary confinement.
After the report, the Department of Homeland Security issued a new statement, saying Lunas attempted to take his own life while detained at the detention site.
DHS said the security staff "immediately intervened to save his life" but that Lunas "violently resisted" the security staff.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by David Gregorio and Rosalba O'Brien)
