Four migrants die in US immigration custody in first 10 days of 2026

Independent.co reports that four migrants died in US immigration custody during the first 10 days of 2026, according to government press releases. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed the fatalities occurred between 3 and 9 January and involved two people from Honduras, one from Cuba and one from Cambodia.

ICE said Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, a Cuban detainee, died on 3 January at Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss and that officials are investigating after saying he had been placed in isolation and was later found in distress. Two Honduran men — Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, 42, and Luis Beltran Yanez–Cruz, 68 — died in hospitals in Houston and Indio on 5 and 6 January, respectively, following heart-related issues, ICE said, and Parady La, 46, a Cambodian man, died on 9 January after severe drug withdrawal symptoms at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia.

The deaths follow a year in which at least 30 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the highest level in two decades, agency figures showed. Setareh Ghandehari of Detention Watch Network called the number "truly staggering" and urged that detention centres be closed, while a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said the rate of deaths had remained in step with historic norms as the detention population has climbed and that authorities have provided access to medical care.

Key Topics

Politics, Ice, Geraldo Lunas Campos, Parady La, Camp East Montana, Fort Bliss