Four Migrants Die in ICE Custody in First 10 Days of the Year Following Record Toll in 2025

Four migrants died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the first 10 days of the year, according to the Department of Homeland Security, following what advocacy groups and government data describe as a record number of detention deaths last year.

The individuals — Parady La, 46; Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz, 68; Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, 42; and Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55 — died between Jan. 3 and Jan. 9 after being detained by federal immigration authorities.

DHS said La became unresponsive after experiencing severe drug withdrawal symptoms while held at a federal detention center in Philadelphia. He was hospitalized on Jan. 7 with an anoxic brain injury, cardiac arrest and multiple organ failure, and died two days later. Family members were notified and visited him at the hospital, DHS said.

Yanez-Cruz died Jan. 6 after being transported to a hospital in Indio, California, for chest pain, while Nunez Caceres was pronounced dead Jan. 5 in Houston after treatment for chronic heart-related conditions, as The Hill reports. Lunas Campos died in Montana after experiencing medical distress; his cause of death remains under investigation, according to DHS.

In a statement after the death of Lunas Campos, the department stated that ICE is committed to providing medical care to detainees:

"Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay. All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health intake screenings within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility; a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility; access to medical appointments; and 24-hour emergency care"

The deaths follow reports that at least 30 people died in ICE custody last year, the highest annual total in two decades, according to a Reuters analysis published earlier this month. Human rights groups and former detainees have repeatedly raised concerns about conditions inside detention facilities, including access to medical care.

The renewed scrutiny comes as ICE moves to significantly expand detention capacity. In December, the Washington Post reported that the agency is seeking contractors to convert industrial warehouses into large-scale detention and processing centers capable of holding more than 80,000 people nationwide.

The plan would coincide with record arrest levels, with ICE detaining more than 68,000 people as of mid-December, according to data analyzed by The Guardian.