UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on June 26 called for independent investigations into dozens of deaths in US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. He urged authorities to take immediate measures to prevent further fatalities as the number of deaths in detention continues to rise.

Türk noted that at least 52 people have died in ICE custody since the beginning of 2025, following President Donald Trump's return to office and the start of administration's expanded immigration enforcement policies. According to official figures, 18 people died in ICE detention during the first five months of this year, with an additional death recorded in June, while 33 deaths were documented during 2025 overall—compared with 11 in 2024.

Türk stressed that governments have an obligation under international human rights law to protect the right to life, particularly when individuals are deprived of their liberty. Authorities must provide detainees with adequate medical care and other necessary protections while in custody, he emphasized.

Human Rights Watch issued a similar warning on June 25. The group also noted that, under official ICE policy, the government is expected to provide families with relevant information following a death in custody, including medical records and investigative findings.

However, a report by Physicians for Human Rights concluded that in all 39 cases it reviewed, the government failed to publicly disclose sufficient information regarding the circumstances surrounding the deaths, or the medical treatment provided in detention, preventing independent clinical assessment.

Earlier this year, Türk expressed concern over US immigration enforcement practices, stating that individuals suspected of lacking legal immigration status have been arrested, "sometimes violently," at hospitals, places of worship, courthouses, schools, markets and private homes. Noting "unnecessary or disproportionate" use of force in these detentions, he emphasized that under international human rights law, the intentional use of lethal force is permissible only as a last resort against an individual posing an imminent threat to life.

ICE is reportedly detaining more than 60,000 individuals at present, compared with approximately 40,000 detainees in early 2025, and has announced plans to expand detention capacity to 90,000 by the end of 2026.

According to Human Rights Watch, the mortality rate in ICE custody has reached its highest level in more than a decade, exceeding rates recorded during both the first Trump administration and the COVID-19 pandemic. Rights groups and the UN have both called for urgent action to ensure accountability for deaths in custody and to safeguard the lives of those held in immigration detention.

Frpm JURIST, June 26. Used with permission.