Story perspectives

ICE Reports Four Detainee Deaths Amid Rising Custody Fatalities

4/18/2026

Summary

Story summary

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported the deaths of four detainees, including Victor Manuel Diaz, who died in January 2023 at Camp East Montana in Texas.
Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan, was found unresponsive with a ligature around his neck after reporting harassment by other detainees.
Despite denying suicidal thoughts, he was pronounced dead, contributing to ICE's troubling trend of 17 deaths in custody in 2023 and 33 in 2025, the highest in over two decades.
ICE faced criticism for not meeting a 90-day reporting deadline mandated by Congress.

1 of 1

Story summary

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported the deaths of four detainees, including Victor Manuel Diaz, who died in January 2023 at Camp East Montana in Texas.
Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan, was found unresponsive with a ligature around his neck after reporting harassment by other detainees.
Despite denying suicidal thoughts, he was pronounced dead, contributing to ICE's troubling trend of 17 deaths in custody in 2023 and 33 in 2025, the highest in over two decades.
ICE faced criticism for not meeting a 90-day reporting deadline mandated by Congress.