Deaths in custody in the US break record and expose humanitarian crisis

The beginning of 2026 reveals a barbaric scenario for the migrant population in the United States. In just ten days, four people lost their lives while in the custody of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

On Saturday (3), Cuban Geraldo Lunas Campos (55 years old) died at Camp East Montana (Texas), after being placed in isolation. On Monday (5), Honduran Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres (42 years old) passed away in a Houston hospital with heart complications. The following day, on Tuesday (6), another Honduran, Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz (68 years old) died in California, also due to heart problems. And on Friday (9), Cambodian Parady La (46 years old) lost his life in Philadelphia with severe withdrawal symptoms.

The deaths recorded in this brief period expose systemic failures ranging from medical negligence to the abusive use of isolation and are the result of a policy that had already been causing victims since last year. 2025 ended with the tragic toll of 32 confirmed deaths, a number that surpasses the previous record from 2004 and is almost four times higher than the historical average.

Human rights experts and organizations, such as Detention Watch Networkwarn that the increase in lethality is the direct result of the political hardening promoted by the Donald Trump administration. The jump in the number of detainees, which reached 69 thousand people this month, has generated extreme overcrowding that compromises basic health care. Furthermore, the suspension of releases for humanitarian reasons has forced elderly people and people with chronic illnesses to remain in isolation cells, often without specialized assistance for heart conditions or mental health crises.

The offensive against immigrants is not limited to detention centers and has spilled over into violence on the streets. Last Wednesday (7), an operation in Minneapolis resulted in the death of Renee Nicole Good, shot by federal agents. The fact triggered a wave of protests in several American cities. While Trumpism celebrates the increase in the repressive apparatus and the goal of inhumane and million-dollar deportations, social movements denounce that the supposed political efficiency is being built on a pile of bodies and serious violations of fundamental human rights.