The methods employed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have once again drawn sharp criticism after the fatal shooting of protester Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 7. At the same time, official data points to a disturbing pattern within the detention system itself: at least four people have died in ICE custody in the first ten days of 2026 alone. These deaths follow a year in which fatalities in immigration detention reached their highest level in two decades, even as the detained population expanded rapidly beyond 68,000 individuals.
According to ICE press statements, four detainees have died since the start of the year. All fatalities occurred within the first ten days of January, with three deaths disclosed between January 9 and 10. The individuals were men aged between 42 and 68. Two were citizens of Honduras, one was Cuban, and one was Cambodian.
ICE attributed two of the deaths to heart-related medical conditions. In the remaining cases, the agency provided limited detail, stating that one death remains under investigation while the cause of the other was not clearly specified.
These early 2026 deaths come on the heels of a record-breaking year. At least 30 people died while being held in ICE detention facilities in 2025, making it the deadliest year for detainees since 2004, shortly after the agency’s formation. The total number of deaths last year exceeded the combined fatalities recorded throughout the 2021–2025 period.
A report released this week by the American Immigration Lawyers Association found that the average daily detention population rose sharply in 2025, increasing by nearly 75 per cent—from roughly 40,000 people at the beginning of the year to more than 66,000 by early December. The report also notes that Congress has approved $45 billion in funding for immigration detention through fiscal year 2029, warning that the system could grow to more than three times its current size within four years.
The profile of those entering detention has also shifted significantly. Arrests of individuals with no criminal record surged by approximately 2,450 per cent during Donald Trump’s first year back in office. As a result, the proportion of detainees without criminal histories rose from just 6 per cent in January 2025 to 41 per cent by December.
This increase has been driven by expanded enforcement tactics, including at-large arrests, roving patrols, workplace raids, and the re-arrest of individuals attending immigration court hearings or routine ICE check-ins.
As detention numbers swelled, ICE dramatically expanded its physical footprint. By December 2025, the agency was operating more than 100 additional detention facilities compared with the start of the year. For the first time, thousands of individuals arrested within the United States were placed in rapidly assembled tent camps.
The report describes conditions in these temporary facilities as harsh and notes that more people died in ICE custody in 2025 than in the previous four years combined.
Policy changes have also sharply reduced opportunities for detainees to secure release while their cases are pending. The Trump administration has restricted access to bond hearings, making extended detention routine even for people who have lived in the United States for decades.
By November 2025, ICE was deporting more than 14 people directly from detention for every person released. Just a year earlier, the ratio stood at roughly one release for every two deportations.
The rapid expansion of detention has been accompanied by a steep reduction in oversight. Staffing levels at the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties dropped from 150 employees to just 22. Similarly, the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman was reduced from 110 staff members to only 10.
The report argues that weakened oversight has coincided with increasingly aggressive enforcement in urban areas, contributing to preventable harm and deaths.
Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council, said the administration’s repeated claims that it is targeting the “worst of the worst” are misleading. “Public safety is being used as a justification to detain immigrants and pressure them into abandoning their cases,” she said.
Concerns over medical treatment in detention facilities have persisted for years. A 2024 report by the American Civil Liberties Union concluded that as many as 95 per cent of deaths in ICE custody could have been avoided with timely and adequate medical care.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, described the system as one designed to prioritise deportation over justice. “When detention becomes the default response, families are separated, due process is undermined, and billions of taxpayer dollars are spent on policies that do little to improve public safety,” he said.