UN rights chief Volker Turk calls for investigation of rising ICE custody deaths in US

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged independent, impartial investigations into the sharp increase in deaths of people held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He said, “Those responsible for violations of the law must be held to account, and the rights of the victims’ families to truth, justice and reparation and guarantees of non‑recurrence must be upheld.”

Official U.S. data show 18 deaths in ICE detention during the first five months of 2026, with an additional death reported in June, bringing the provisional total to 19 for the year. The previous year recorded 33 deaths, up from 11 in 2024. Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights report that the mortality rate has more than doubled since President Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025, climbing about 140 % year‑on‑year.

ICE currently holds over 60,000 detainees, up from roughly 40,000 in early 2025, and plans to expand capacity to 90,000 by the end of 2026. The UN highlighted systemic problems such as inadequate medical care, overcrowding, use of solitary confinement, and five deaths classified as suicides, all of which raise serious concerns about preventable fatalities.