The for-profit immigration detention industry is infamous for its long-standing record of deadly conditions — brutal medical abuse, retaliatory use of violence and solitary confinement, and premature deaths

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@freedomforimmigrants.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Laura Hernández, executive director of Freedom for Immigrants (FFI), today issued the following statement in response to the record-breaking number of deaths occurring in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention nationwide. Up to this point in 2026, there has been an average of one in-custody death per week, while the number of deaths has reached an all-time high this fiscal year.

“These avoidable tragedies underscore what we’ve known to be true for many years: Nobody is safe for any amount of time in ICE custody. The vast majority of deaths in detention have been found to be wholly preventable, and a direct result of ICE and prison officials denying critical medical care or failing to follow even the most basic emergency protocols. We mourn alongside the growing number of families whose lives have been upended by the government’s senseless violence.

“The bottom line is that premature death is a hallmark of the immigration detention system and a long-standing example of how detention systematically devalues Black and brown lives. ICE’s deliberate callousness puts our loved ones at risk. People have always been treated as less than human while detained. The for-profit immigration detention industry is infamous for its long-standing record of brutal medical abuse, psychological torture, retaliatory use of violence and solitary confinement, and death. An already desperate situation is being made worse by a record number of people in detention, overcrowded facilities, and an administration that feels emboldened to harm, silence, and disappear people with impunity, especially behind the closed doors of detention centers. To end these routine horrors, we must free them all, close detention centers for good, and end the practice of detention altogether. In Trump’s term, a key part of this work includes doing everything in our power to block the additional flow of money into the already bloated budget of DHS.”

Freedom for Immigrants mourns the known lives lost to immigration detention between January and April:

Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, January 3

Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, 42, January 5

Luis Beltran Yanez–Cruz, 68, January 6

Parady La, 46, January 9

Heber Sanchez Domínguez, 34, January 14

Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, January 14

Lorth Sim, 59, February 16

Jairo Garcia-Hernandez, 27, February 16

Alberto Gutierrez Reyes, 48, February 27

Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi, 59, March 1

Emmanuel Clifford Damas, 56, March 2

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, March 14

Royer Perez-Jimenez, 19, March 16

Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, 52, March 25

Tuan Van Bui, 55, April 1

Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, 49, April 11

Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, 27, April 12

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Freedom for Immigrants is an abolitionist organization working to end immigration incarceration by organizing with and following the leadership of currently and formerly incarcerated immigrants. We’re building a future in which all people can move freely and thrive. Learn more at www.freedomforimmigrants.org/.