Rising deaths inside US immigration detention centres are drawing fresh scrutiny at the United Nations, where the top human rights official is demanding accountability and pressing Washington to stop removals to destinations where people could face what he called “irreparable harm”.
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council today, Volker Turk said “four more people have died in US immigration custody since my last update to this council” in June.
Those additional fatalities bring the toll to “a total of 23 deaths in 2026 alone”, Turk said, adding that “there needs to be accountability for these deaths”.
The comments come as US President Donald Trump, in the second term of his presidency, has placed combating illegal immigration at the centre of his agenda, with authorities rounding up thousands of people and expanding detention centres.
In June, a joint report by Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights said the rate of deaths in ICE custody has climbed to its highest level in more than a decade amid Trump’s crackdown.
Turk on Monday also criticised a broader set of US immigration enforcement practices, including sending migrants back to dangerous locations and deporting people to countries with which they have no connection.
“I urge the United States to halt the return of people to places where they could suffer irreparable harm, including Haiti, and to ensure due process for all removals to third countries,” he told the council.
The UN rights chief also said he was alarmed by reported plans at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to “equip immigration agents with electric shock gloves”, warning that such a move would “increase the violence associated with their operations”.
The proposal to buy the shock gloves, first reported by The Associated Press, would have the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — ICE’s parent agency — spend $10 to $20 million on devices described as “distraction and de-escalation” tools.
ICE has faced criticism over a series of fatal shootings during enforcement operations, including the deaths of two American citizens in Minnesota in January who were involved in anti-ICE protests.
Critics have also targeted the aggressive tactics used by ICE agents when detaining migrants, along with allegations that training standards for new recruits have been lowered.
