US ICE detention deaths climb, 16 Mexican nationals die as mortality hits two-decade high

A joint Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights report documents a sharp rise in deaths at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. Between 20 January 2025 and 4 June 2026, 52 detainees died, pushing the annualized mortality rate to 8.4 deaths per 10,000 detainees – a 138 % increase and the highest level in almost two decades, surpassing the pandemic peak.

The ICE detainee population grew 77 % in the same period, leading to severe overcrowding, reduced medical oversight and strained external health‑care contracts. Mexican nationals accounted for the largest share of deaths, with 16 confirmed fatalities, including the recent death of 63‑year‑old Félix Alcorta Rodríguez at the Webb County detention center in Laredo, Texas, on 19 June. The Mexican government has filed a complaint with the Inter‑American Commission on Human Rights and joined a class‑action lawsuit over conditions at the Adelanto processing center in California.

Other notable cases include 39‑year‑old Ismael Ayala‑Uribe, who died in September 2025 after an untreated infection, and 85‑year‑old German immigrant Adrian Andreas Florian, who died in June 2026 while under ICE medical supervision in Harlingen, Texas. ICE statements assert that detainees receive medical care upon entry and throughout custody, while the report attributes the mortality surge to overcrowding, dismantled oversight mechanisms and failures in external medical services.