Deaths of migrants in ICE custody hit record high under Trump : NPR

Entrance to Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas.

Sergio Martínez-Beltran/NPR

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Sergio Martínez-Beltran/NPR

AUSTIN, Texas — The number of immigrants who died while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody reached a record high this fiscal year.

Twenty-nine people have died while in ICE custody since October, the start of the federal government’s fiscal year, already surpassing the previous record of 28 in 2004, according to government data.

Most recent the death was that of a 27 year old man Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, a Cuban detained by ICE in Miami, Florida. According to a first report released by ICE On the evening of April 16, Carbonell-Betancourt was found unconscious in his cell on the morning of April 12. The report lists the cause of death as “suspected suicide,” but the official cause is still under investigation.

The report states that Carbonell-Betancourt entered the United States in 2024 without valid documents and then released into the United States through a program known as parole, which allows non-citizens to enter the country without a formal visa, often for humanitarian reasons.

He was arrested for violently resisting a police officer in 2025 and then transferred to ICE custody earlier this year, according to the ICE statement.

The increase in deaths comes as detention numbers have skyrocketed under the Trump administration. Detentions increased by more than 70% under President Trump compared to the first year of the Biden administration. The Trump administration has carried out an unprecedented crackdown on immigration. Immigration officials have illegally arrested and detained criminals in the country, as well as many people without criminal records and some migrants who are in the country with temporary protections from deportation.

There are approximately 60,000 people currently in immigration detention.

In a statement to NPR, DHS denied there was an increase in deaths and attributed the increase to the large number of people in custody. DHS said that as of April 16, “custody mortality rates under the Trump administration stand at 0.009 percent of the detained population.”

The agency added that ICE provides migrants with access to medical care.

“For many illegal aliens, this is the best health care they have received their entire lives,” the statement said. The statement then encourages detainees to self-deport. “Being in custody is a choice. We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home app,” the statement said.

During a congressional hearing Also Thursday, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said there were a high number of deaths this fiscal year “because we have the highest number of detentions that ICE has ever had since its inception in 2003.” Lyons added that the agency spent “nearly half a billion dollars last fiscal year…to ensure people receive appropriate care.”

He reiterated details noted by other DHS officials: Detainees receive a complete medical exam within 14 days and are seen by a medical professional within 24 hours of admission.

“We don’t want any deaths. We don’t want anyone to die in custody,” said Lyons, who submitted his resignation. hours after testifyingsaid. “I hope it’s a policy of whoever should be responsible for detaining someone.”

Texas and California facilities deadliest

Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, California, and Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas each reported the death of three detainees, the largest number ICE’s sprawling detention operation.

According to initial reports from ICE, the deaths of the six immigrant detainees have been attributed to a number of causes, including suicide, alcohol withdrawalliver failure and kidney failure. Other inmates shown symptoms like shortness of breath.

One of the deaths at Camp East Montana was ruled a homicide by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Initially, DHS said Geraldo Lunas Campos died at Camp East Montana after experiencing “medical distress.” He also claimed Lunas Campos became “disruptive while waiting in line for medication” and was placed in solitary confinement. But the El Paso medical examiner’s office later ruled his death a homicide due to “asphyxia due to compression of the neck and torso.” The FBI is currently investigating the death. Chris Benoit, an attorney representing the family, told NPR that Lunas Campos came to the United States in the mid-1990s, part of a wave of Cuban immigrants during World War II. balsero crisis after the fall of the Soviet Union.

“In every sense of the word, he’s American,” Benoit said. “He has lived here for decades and raised his family here and his children love him and miss him.”

According to DHS, Lunas Campos had been convicted of several crimes, including petty theft, unlawful possession of a weapon during a robbery and sexual contact with a child under 11 years old.

In a court motion seeking eyewitness testimony, Lunas Campos’ three children said they plan to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Rahul Mukherjee contributed to this report.