ICE Detention Deaths: The Deadliest Year in Two Decades

32 people died in ICE custody in 2025. At least 4 more in the first 10 days of 2026. 95% of deaths were preventable. These are their names.

State of Surveillance Editorial Team

TL;DR: 2025 was the deadliest year for people in ICE custody in over two decades. 32 people died, matching the 2004 record. The ACLU found that 95% of ICE detention deaths between 2017-2021 were preventable with adequate medical care. The pattern continues: denied medications, ignored emergencies, unqualified staff, and a system that treats medical care as an expense to minimize. At least 4 more people have died in ICE custody in the first 10 days of January 2026. Below are their names, their stories, and the system that killed them.

The Numbers: 32 Dead in 2025

According to official records and investigative reporting, at least 32 people died in ICE custody during 2025, matching the record set in 2004.[1][2]

  • 2025: 32 deaths (tied for deadliest year since tracking began)
  • 2024: 18 deaths
  • 2004: 32 deaths (previous record)
  • January 2026: At least 4 deaths in first 10 days[3]

This surge occurred as detention numbers exploded. By December 2025, over 68,000 people were detained by ICE, near all-time highs.[1] More people locked up means more people dying.

But this isn't just about numbers. It's about deliberate choices. Budget choices. Staffing choices. Medical care choices. Choices that kill.

95% Preventable

A 2024 report by the ACLU, American Oversight, and Physicians for Human Rights examined 52 deaths in ICE custody between 2017 and 2021. The findings:[4]

  • 95% of deaths were preventable or possibly preventable with adequate medical care
  • 88% involved incorrect or incomplete diagnoses
  • Delayed treatment in nearly every case
  • Mental health failures contributing to suicides

These weren't people with terminal illnesses who happened to die in custody. These were people with treatable conditions (infections, diabetes, heart problems) who were denied care until it was too late.

A USC analysis of death reports from 2011-2018 found that ICE violated its own medical care standards in 78% of cases.[5]

ICE doesn't follow its own rules. People die. Nothing changes.

The Names

These are not statistics. These were human beings.[6][7]

Maksym Chernyak

Died February 2025. Had a seizure in the shower after being denied medical care. His requests for help were ignored.

Ismael Ayala Uribe

Died September 2025. ICE records show he was in severe pain and deteriorating before death. Requests for care went unanswered.

Huabing Xie

Died 2025. Another preventable death where medical care arrived too late, or not at all.

Santos Reyes-Banegas

Died 2025. His death follows the pattern: medical emergency, inadequate response, death in custody.

Full list of documented 2025 ICE custody deaths:[6]

  • Oscar Rascon Duarte
  • Huabing Xie
  • Chaofeng Ge
  • Ismael Ayala Uribe
  • Santos Reyes-Banegas
  • Nenko Stanev Gantchev
  • Delvin Francisco Rodriguez
  • Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir
  • Jean Wilson Brutus
  • Shiraz Fatehali Sachwani
  • Pete Sumalo Montejo
  • Francisco Gaspar-Andres
  • Kai Yin Wong
  • Gabriel Garcia-Aviles
  • Hasan Ali Moh'D Saleh
  • Leo Cruz-Silva
  • Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez
  • Norlan Guzman-Fuentes
  • Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas
  • Isidro Perez
  • Johnny Noviello
  • Jesus Molina-Veya
  • Abelardo Avellaneda-Delgado
  • Marie Ange Blaise
  • Nhon Ngoc Nguyen
  • Brayan Rayo-Garzon
  • Juan Alexis Tineo-Martinez
  • Maksym Chernyak
  • Serawit Gezahegn Dejene
  • Genry Ruiz Guillen

Each name represents a family without a father, mother, child, sibling. Each death represents a choice by ICE to prioritize enforcement over life.

How People Die in ICE Custody

The patterns are consistent across years and facilities:[4][5][8]

Medical Emergencies Ignored

Detainees report symptoms: chest pain, numbness, severe illness. Staff dismiss them. Hours or days later, they collapse. Sometimes they get to a hospital. Often they don't.

Medication Denied

A 2025 Senate investigation found detainees being denied insulin, left without prescription medications for days, and experiencing life-threatening delays in care.[8]

Mental Health Neglect

Suicidal detainees inadequately monitored. Warning signs missed. Deaths by suicide that could have been prevented with basic mental health care.

Undertrained Staff

Medical personnel lacking qualifications. Security staff making medical decisions. Emergency protocols not followed.

Deliberate Indifference

A culture where complaints are ignored, sick call requests go unanswered, and dying people are told they're faking it.

Less Oversight, More Deaths

As detention numbers rose in 2025, oversight declined.[9]

  • 36% fewer inspection reports published by ICE in 2025 compared to previous years
  • More detainees, less scrutiny: the opposite of what safety requires
  • Private contractors running facilities with minimal accountability

When oversight decreases and detention increases, deaths follow. This is predictable. It was predicted. It's happening.

The Private Profit Motive

Many ICE detention facilities are run by private companies (GEO Group, CoreCivic) paid per detainee per day. This creates perverse incentives:

  • Medical care is a cost: Every dollar spent on healthcare is a dollar off profits
  • Understaffing saves money: Fewer nurses, fewer doctors, more profit
  • Empty beds lose money: Incentive to keep facilities full regardless of need
  • Deaths don't end contracts: People die and companies keep getting paid

GEO Group made $1.05 billion from ICE contracts in 2022, 43.9% of their total revenue.[10] They're not incentivized to provide good care. They're incentivized to minimize expenses.

When you turn human beings into profit centers, they die. That's not a bug, it's the business model.

Case Study: Fort Bliss

The patterns of medical neglect that cause death are visible at facilities like Fort Bliss, where the ACLU recently documented systematic abuse.

Read our full investigation: Fort Bliss: Inside America's Largest Immigration Detention Nightmare

At Fort Bliss, detainees with cancer and diabetes were denied treatment. The facility violated federal detention standards 60+ times in its first 50 days. Violence is common. Medical care is an afterthought.

Fort Bliss isn't unique. It's representative. The same conditions that kill at Fort Bliss kill across the ICE detention system.

The Official Response: Nothing

ICE's standard response to detention deaths:[1]

  • Express commitment to "comprehensive medical care"
  • Note that deaths are "under investigation"
  • Release no findings from investigations
  • Change nothing
  • Repeat when the next person dies

There is no accountability. Officers aren't fired. Contracts aren't cancelled. Policies aren't changed. The same conditions that killed 32 people in 2025 remain in place for 2026.

And the deaths continue. 4 in the first 10 days of January.

What You Can Do

Demand Accountability

Contact Congress. Demand oversight hearings. Demand that ICE release all death investigation findings. Demand an end to private detention.

Support Legal Advocacy

Organizations like the ACLU, Detention Watch Network, and American Immigration Lawyers Association are fighting in courts and Congress. Fund them.

Protect Those at Risk

If you know someone facing detention, help them prepare. Legal representation matters. Know Your Rights guides matter. Emergency contacts matter.

Protect Your Digital Life

ICE surveillance feeds detention. Protect yourself with Tor, Signal, and VPNs. Lock down social media.

Specific Actions

Personal Digital Security

Avoid becoming a target of ICE surveillance that leads to detention:

This Is State-Sanctioned Killing

When the government:

  • Knows that 95% of detention deaths are preventable
  • Knows that its facilities violate medical care standards 78% of the time
  • Knows that its inspection regime is failing
  • Knows that private contractors prioritize profit over care

And does nothing. That's not negligence. That's policy.

32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 because the United States government chose to let them die. Because treating migrants as human beings costs money. Because cruelty is the point.

Every name on this list is a person who trusted, or was forced, into a system that killed them. Every name represents a preventable death. Every name is an indictment.

Oscar. Huabing. Chaofeng. Ismael. Santos. Nenko. Delvin. Fouad. Jean Wilson. Shiraz. Pete. Francisco. Kai Yin. Gabriel. Hasan. Leo. Miguel. Norlan. Lorenzo. Isidro. Johnny. Jesus. Abelardo. Marie Ange. Nhon. Brayan. Juan. Maksym. Serawit. Genry.

And the count continues.

References

  1. The Guardian - ICE Detention Deaths Hit 20-Year High in 2025 (January 2026)
  2. Statista - Deaths in ICE Custody by Year
  3. Japan Times - Four Deaths in ICE Custody in First 10 Days of 2026 (January 2026)
  4. Physicians for Human Rights / ACLU - Deaths in ICE Detention: 95% Preventable (2024)
  5. USC Health Policy - ICE Violated Own Medical Standards in 78% of Death Cases
  6. Wikipedia - Deaths in U.S. Immigration Detention
  7. Detention Watch Network - ICE Detention Deaths Database
  8. PBS NewsHour - Senate Investigation Finds Medical Neglect in ICE Detention (October 2025)
  9. POGO - ICE Detention Oversight Declined 36% in 2025
  10. ACLU - GEO Group ICE Contracts Analysis