The American Immigration Council is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. January 2026 saw a shocking number of deaths tied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This includes fatalities inside immigration detention centers as well as deadly shootings involving ICE agents in public spaces. The deaths of eight people last month come on top of a record number of people dying in ICE custody in 2025 — though 2026 is already on track to surpass that record-high. These disturbing series of deaths have raised urgent questions about government accountability.
Deaths in ICE detention
Six people died in ICE custody in January 2026 across detention centers in Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and California. One case in particular drew national attention after local authorities ruled it a homicide.
Early in the month, Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old father from Cuba died while detained at Camp East Montana facility in El Paso, Texas. Although ICE is legally required to report deaths that occur in its custody, its public disclosures often come late and have little information. Independent investigations frequently contradict these findings later — that is what happened, in a very notable way, in Mr. Lunas Campos’s case.
Initially, ICE stated Mr. Lunas Campos experienced a medical emergency after becoming “disruptive.” But soon after, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled his death was a homicide arising from asphyxia due to neck and torso compression. DHS then attempted to blame his death on attempted suicide. According to reporting, a witness said Mr. Lunas Campos was handcuffed while at least five guards held him down and one guard squeezed his neck until he was unconscious. This contradiction sparked public outrage and left his children with questions about what actually happened to their father.
The other deaths reported in ICE detention in January include individuals who experienced severe medical complications, chronic illnesses, and untreated mental health crises. These include:
- Luis Gustavo Núñez Caceres, a 42-year-old son and brother from Honduras who died on January 5 while detained at Joe Corley Processing facility in Conroe, Texas.
- Luis Beltran Yanez Cruz, a 68-year-old father from Honduras who had lived here for 26 years, who died on January 6 while detained at Imperial Regional facility in Calexico, California.
- Parady La, a 46-year-old father from Cambodia who came here at age two, who died on January 9 while detained at Federal Detention Center in Center City, Philadelphia.
- Heber Sánchez Domínguez, a 34-year-old husband and father from Mexico who died on January 14 while detained at Robert A. Deyton facility in Lovejoy, Georgia.
- Victor Manuel Díaz, a 36-year-old family man from Nicaragua who died on January 14 at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, the same facility where Mr. Lunas Campos was killed earlier in the month. His death made him the second person to die at that facility in January alone, and the third since December 2025.
Organizations have documented extremely harsh and abusive detention conditions, including overcrowding, lack of medical care, and lack of access to legal representation at Camp East Montana and other immigration facilities across the country, increasing the likelihood that people will needlessly die while in government custody.
Deadly DHS shootings in public spaces
As the death toll rises inside detention centers, we also saw several fatal shootings involving DHS officers during enforcement operations in public. These incidents prove that the dangers of unchecked immigration enforcement do not stop at detention walls. The Trump administration’s actions affect our communities and all Americans.
Last month, two DHS-related shootings resulted in fatalities in Minneapolis. This shook the city’s neighborhoods and ignited massive waves of protest. First, Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three young children, was killed by an ICE agent during a large enforcement operation. Less than two weeks later, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was also fatally shot by Border Patrol agents. In both cases, DHS officials attempted to frame the killings as acts of self-defense by officers. However, video evidence has raised serious questions about whether lethal force was necessary or even justified.
In Ms. Good’s case, eyewitnesses stated federal officers blocked medics and bystanders from rendering aid after she was shot. Nonetheless, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has declined to open an investigation into the agent that killed her, attempting instead to investigate her widow.
In Mr. Pretti’s case, video and eyewitness accounts contradicted the initial DHS narrative showing him holding only a phone as multiple agents tackled him into the pavement, taking his legally carried firearm away before he was fatally shot.
In the aftermath of these killings, local leaders and members of Congress called for greater oversight of ICE operations and clearer limits on the use of force.
A systemic failure
Altogether, the deaths in ICE detention and the fatal public shootings in January 2026 point to a frightening pattern of lawlessness and indifference to human life. This administration is overseeing a system of immigration enforcement that operates with impunity and little to no transparency, even when lives are at stake.
These deaths are not isolated incidents. While debates over immigration policy continue, no one can rationally argue in favor of government policies that cause wrongful deaths.
