The UN asked the United States this Friday for measures to prevent more immigrants from dying in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), after the death of 19 of them so far in 2026, as well as independent investigations in this regard.

In 2025, a total of 33 deaths were recorded in ICE custody and eleven in 2024, the United Nations Human Rights Office said.

Five of the deaths officially reported in 2026 were classified as suicides, he detailed.

UN warns about conditions in immigration detention centers

These deaths have occurred in a context of broad expansion of the United States immigration detention system, with 60,000 detainees currently compared to 40,000 at the beginning of 2025, and plans to expand the capacity of the system to reach 90,000 people detained by the end of this year, according to data managed by the UN agency.

He recalled that detainees—including entire families with children and people with medical conditions—are known to endure “inhumane conditions of detention and treatment, including inadequate health care and nutrition, as well as exposure to disease outbreaks in overcrowded facilities,” in addition to complaints about the use of force.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, noted that “the lack of transparency and clarity around the circumstances of these deaths in custody undermines accountability” and called for those responsible to be held accountable and “the rights of the victims' families” be guaranteed.

He also mentioned the lack of information on the whereabouts of people detained during transfers.