UN calls for ‘prompt investigations’ of deaths in US immigration custody

Key Points:

• United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for prompt, independent, impartial, and effective investigations into the rising deaths in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody amid concerns over transparency and detainee treatment.
• The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general announced investigations into deaths and use of force in ICE detention facilities, prompted by an increase in detainee deaths since fiscal year 2022 and allegations of abuse and mismanagement.
• Human Rights Watch and UCLA reports reveal mortality in ICE custody is at its highest level in over a decade, with 52 deaths in the first 500 days of the Trump administration's second term, which has also expanded detention capacity and resumed family detention practices.
• Türk criticized the excessive use of solitary confinement in ICE centers, warning it exacerbates detainee vulnerability and could contribute to preventable deaths, and emphasized that immigration detention should be a last resort, especially avoiding detention of vulnerable groups like children and pregnant women.
• The DHS denied a spike in deaths and highlighted regular audits and compliance with detention standards, but watchdogs and advocacy groups point to a lack of transparency and weakened oversight mechanisms within the department, urging restoration of independent monitoring of immigration detention.