"After all, I can immediately think of cases that aren't included in that figure, such as the disappearance of Los Angeles resident Vicente Ventura Aguilar, who multiple witnesses say was taken into ICE custody before suffering a medical emergency, only to vanish off the face of the Earth. Months later, he's never been found, and the official stance of DHS is that they never detained anyone by that name, despite fellow detainees saying that Ventura Aguilar was there."
"In just three weeks since the start of 2026, there have officially been six deaths of detainees in ICE custody, per the official reporting mechanism of DHS's newsroom, which puts out a press release on each death. That follows December, which was the deadliest month of 2025, in which 7 detainees-and might I remind you, we are talking about human beings here, 74% of which have no criminal convictions-died in ICE custody."
At least 32 people died while detained by ICE in 2025, matching the 2004 record but likely undercounted. Cases such as the disappearance of Vicente Ventura Aguilar, whom witnesses say was taken into ICE custody before a medical emergency and later vanished, raise doubts about official reporting. DHS has claimed no record of his detention despite witness accounts. In the first three weeks of 2026, six detainee deaths were reported, while December 2025 saw seven deaths. Seventy-four percent of the 2025 detainee deaths had no criminal convictions. Extrapolating recent death rates projects over 80 deaths in 2026, more than double the prior record.
Read at Jezebel
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