Crime & Justice · Oct 1, 2026ICE Watch: Fiscal Year 2026 Becomes Deadliest in ICE History: 37 Deaths in Custody, Including Cubans

ICE Watch & Accountability · Daily Update · October 1, 2026, 8:41 AM CDT

Where These Stories Happened

Detention & Deaths

Fiscal Year 2026 Becomes Deadliest in ICE History: 37 Deaths in Custody, Including Cubans

The recently concluded federal fiscal year has been recorded as the most fatal for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): 37 individuals died while in the agency's custody between October 2025 and September 2026.

This figure is nearly double that of the previous year, according to an investigation by Bloomberg Law released on the last day of the fiscal year. The number surpasses the 33 deaths in fiscal year 2025âwhich was already the deadliest in over two decadesâand triples the 11 deaths in 2024. This increase occurred during a massive expansion of the detention system under Trumpâs second administration.^[1]

Former Marana prison to serve as an ICE detention center

, according to a news release by the Management & Training Center.

MTC signed a contract with ICE on Tuesday, with MTC anticipating the reopening of the facility in 60 days. MTC provides corrections and immigration detention services to over 17,800 residents in the US, according to MTC. The Town of Marana provided a statement on the change, explaining that the Town does not have the authority to determine whether or not the building is being operated as a prison or a detention center due to existing land-use regulations.^[2]

Courts & Lawsuits

Judge keeps Venezuelan DoorDash driver shot by ICE behind bars for alleged assault

Austin — A Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot in his car by a federal immigration agent in Texas will remain in custody on charges that he assaulted an officer while trying to evade arrest, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge Dustin Howell said the case against Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, should proceed after prosecutors presented body-worn camera footage of the encounter in Austin, in which Garces Perez allegedly struck a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with his driver's side mirror. Garces Perez is charged with one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. His case has sparked widespread outrage across the Texas capital city and brought renewed criticism from Democrats of President Trump's aggressive crackdown on immigration.^[3]

Immigration court upholds deportation grounds for Milwaukee Muslim leader

A US immigration judge ruled the US government can deport Palestinian American Salah Sarsour, who is the president of Wisconsin's largest mosque and a US permanent resident, under a Cold War-era law.

Sarsour, who grew up in the West Bank, was detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in late March and released in mid-June after a federal judge said he had raised a substantial free speech retaliation claim that would render his detention unlawful. Sarsour's legal team said on Wednesday they will appeal the ruling. Islamic Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest mosque, says Sarsour has lived in the US for over three decades.^[4]

Raids & Arrests

ICE is detaining pregnant immigrants. Most Americans say they shouldn’t.

More than two-thirds of Americans say that immigrants who are pregnant, nursing or have recently given birth should generally not be held in immigration detention, according to a new 19th News/YouGov poll.

The Trump administration's immigration crackdown has led to more arrests, detentions and deportations of pregnant and postpartum immigrants, who are more medically vulnerable than the general population. Women are more likely to oppose the policy.^[5]

About 29 percent of respondents said that immigrants who are pregnant, have recently given birth or are nursing should be detained only in "exceptional circumstances," and 41 percent said they should not be kept in detention facilities at all.
— as reported by Yahoo

Dozens protest at Chile and Chili's after immigration enforcement detained 3 employees at food truck

NORTHWEST TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — The community gathered in protest Wednesday at Chile and Chili’s after immigration enforcement presence at the Tallahassee food truck resulted in the detention of employees.

The food truck has permanently closed its Tennessee Street location. A spokesperson said a driver being chased by Florida Highway Patrol and ICE pulled onto the property last Friday, causing employees to run out of the food trucks in fear.^[6]

"Immigrants are workers, they're our neighbors, they're our friends, they're our allies… no one should be living in fear due to immigration, police, or ICE," Regina Joseph, a T-CARE member, said.
— as reported by WTXL ABC 27

Oversight & Policy

California Governor signs "No Kings Act," prompting three people including the woman above who was pregnant, seek to immediately sue ICE, DHS

3 Californians amend immigration lawsuits after 'No Kings Act' signed into law LOS ANGELES – California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed the "No Kings Act" into law, allowing people to file lawsuits against ICE and other federal agents.

Immediately, an attorney in Los Angeles amended her lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security and multiple John Doe federal agents, using the new law SB 747, for allegedly using excessive force and violating the constitutional rights of three U.S. citizens in 2025. Civil lawsuits against ICE and other federal employees. Agents push Javier Ramirez up against a fence.^[7]

ICE got ‘quieter’ – then killed a father in Maine. Now watch groups are shifting their tactics too

Most of the time, the scene outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the small, coastal town of Scarborough, Maine, could be confused for a nature watch in “Vacationland”, the slogan on state license plates.

People sitting in lawn chairs under a tent. The sound of the breeze moving through the trees. But when four Escalades zoom into the ICE facility parking lot on an August afternoon, the group springs out of their chairs, binoculars and clipboards in hand.^[8]

Primary Records

Check the government’s own records directly:

• ICE detainee death reporting (ICE’s own notices)
• DHS Office of Inspector General reports
• ICE online detainee locator

References

1. CubaHeadlines. Fiscal Year 2026 Becomes Deadliest in ICE History: 37 Deaths in Custody, Including Cubans. ↩
2. KGUN 9. Former Marana prison to serve as an ICE detention center. ↩
3. CBS News. Judge keeps Venezuelan DoorDash driver shot by ICE behind bars for alleged assault. ↩
4. The Jerusalem Post. Immigration court upholds deportation grounds for Milwaukee Muslim leader. ↩
5. Yahoo. ICE is detaining pregnant immigrants. Most Americans say they shouldn’t.. ↩
6. WTXL ABC 27. Dozens protest at Chile and Chili's after immigration enforcement detained 3 employees at food truck. ↩
7. KTVU. California Governor signs "No Kings Act," prompting three people including the woman above who was pregnant, seek to immediately sue ICE, DHS. ↩
8. The Guardian. ICE got ‘quieter’ – then killed a father in Maine. Now watch groups are shifting their tactics too. ↩

Methodology: ICE Watch & Accountability is compiled daily by scripts/ice_watch.py from named news reports published in the previous 36 hours. Passages in bold and in quotation blocks are verbatim from the cited report; nothing is paraphrased or generated by AI. Stories are grouped by keyword into sections, and a story already covered on Kemetic Minds in the past three days is skipped.

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