UN rights chief calls for investigations into US deaths in immigration custody

GENEVA: The UN human rights chief on Friday called for independent investigations into deaths of people in US immigration custody, saying that 19 people have died in detention so far this year.

“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,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement.

The US homeland security department’s inspector general is examining deaths of people in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody from October 2021 through March 2026.

Nineteen people died in ICE detention this year so far, the UN human rights office said, citing US government data. Last year 33 deaths were recorded, the office said after US President Donald Trump launched his mass deportation campaign in January 2025.

The homeland security department, which has federal oversight of immigration, said it has maintained a higher standard of care than most prisons.

“There has been NO spike in deaths. Consistent with data over the last decade, death rates in custody under the Trump administration are 0.009% of the detained population,” a spokesman said.

A Reuters analysis of ICE data found that the death rate among immigration detainees has more than doubled since Trump returned to office in 2025. The number of people detained has grown by 50% since early 2025 to 60,000 people, the UN human rights office said, citing US official data.

ICE, which is part of the homeland security department, has been at the centre of Trump’s immigration crackdown that rights groups have said violates free speech and due process rights and created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities.

Trump and Republican advocates of the crackdown say it aims to curb illegal immigration and improve domestic security.