Crime & Justice · Nov 10, 2026ICE Watch: ICE Found Medical Care Failures in 23 of 29 Deaths in Custody, Records Show

ICE Watch & Accountability · Daily Update · November 9, 2026, 8:41 PM CST

Where These Stories Happened

Detention & Deaths

ICE Found Medical Care Failures in 23 of 29 Deaths in Custody, Records Show

Posted on 11/09/26 at 21:08 – ICE investigators identify medical care failures in 23 of 29 deaths in custody reviewed.

– At least eight cases involved failures to perform CPR correctly or at all. – The number of ICE detention facilities more than doubled between January 2025 and July 2026. Internal investigators with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) found that at least 23 immigrants received inadequate medical care before dying in ICE custody, according to newly obtained agency records.^[1]

ICE environmental assessment finds 1,500-bed Surprise detention center would cause ‘no significant’ environmental harm

A draft environmental review the Department of Homeland Security released Monday found that converting a warehouse in Surprise, Ariz., into a 1,500-bed immigration detention center would cause no significant environmental harm.

The company hired to run the facility managed the review. The draft environmental assessment says consultants under contract to GardaWorld Federal Services prepared the review and its supporting documents. GardaWorld’s project manager is listed as the review’s project manager and as a technical reviewer.^[2]

Courts & Lawsuits

Judge orders ICE to release UC Berkeley student detained at SFO

A federal judge has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release a UC Berkeley student who was detained at San Francisco International Airport last month, ruling that the government violated her right to due process.

Paula Albornoz Hernandez, 23, was detained by ICE on Oct. 30 while waiting to board a flight to Oregon with her boyfriend. She has a pending asylum case and a current work permit, according to her attorneys. Article continues below this ad Albornoz Hernandez’s attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker, told KQED that his client was expected to leave ICE custody later Monday from the California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert.^[3]

Dickinson woman fights for husband's release amid immigration bond ruling

DICKINSON Cristina Velasquez, a U.S. citizen, has spent nearly three months fighting for her husband’s release from an immigration detention center, a legal battle extended by the cancellation of their latest court hearing Friday.

Meanwhile, a federal appeals court ruling limiting bond eligibility has raised concerns among local immigration attorneys about detainees’ ability to fight deportation. Attorney Gabe Perez of Zendeh Del Law, who represents Velasquez, and Elizabeth Sanchez Kennedy, executive director of the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project, said the ruling adds to the legal hurdles immigrants face while challenging their detention. “I just want him out now,” Velasquez said.^[4]

Raids & Arrests

Wisconsin ICE news: Wisconsin state trooper's ICE release expected after Aaron Van Der Merwe detained at Madison airport

A Wisconsin state trooper was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Dane County Regional Airport on Thursday.

It happened during a targeted ICE operation, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe, 21, was being held at an immigration detention center inside the Dodge County jail. After being held for roughly 24 hours, Van Der Merwe's attorney told WISN 12 News he will be released Friday evening.^[5]

A dozen arrested, two detained by ICE in Daphne human trafficking operation

The Daphne Police Department announced the arrests of 12 men in a multi-agency human trafficking enforcement operation.

The operation was conducted on November 6. Among the subjects were two men now being held by ICE. Joseph Emmanuell Bailey and Diego Gaspar Mauro are charged with solicitation of prostitution and were detained for federal immigration agents.^[6]

Oversight & Policy

Faced with influx, prosecutor in Washington says he lacks resources to defend immigration cases

TACOMA, Wash. — Faced with an influx of petitions by people alleging they're being unlawfully detained by federal immigration authorities, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington said Monday that it no longer has the manpower to defend every case and will let judges rule without government opposition.

As a result, his office will decline to defend “many” habeas cases. He didn't specify how many cases could be affected.^[7]

The backlog has “severely impacted the government's ability to respond” to immigration petitions and prevented prosecutors from dealing with other unrelated civil litigation, he said.
— as reported by Newsday

Report documents 64 cases of abuse, neglect in Arizona detention centers

From January to July 2026, people detained in three Arizona immigration detention centers reported at least 64 cases of abuse and neglect.

The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, the author of the report, is a nonprofit organization that provides free legal services, social services and advocacy to detained adults and unaccompanied children facing immigration removal proceedings in Arizona. The recent six-month report is the result of the organization’s constant contact with people detained inside the detention centers.^[8]

The cases, brought to light in the “A Place of Repression and Torture for Immigrants” report, range from chronic illnesses, medical abuse and miscarriages to overcrowding and unsanitary and inhumane conditions.
— as reported by CaloNews.com

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. MundoNOW. ICE Found Medical Care Failures in 23 of 29 Deaths in Custody, Records Show. ↩
2. Project Salt Box. ICE environmental assessment finds 1,500-bed Surprise detention center would cause ‘no significant’ environmental harm. ↩
3. San Francisco Chronicle. Judge orders ICE to release UC Berkeley student detained at SFO. ↩
4. The Daily News | Texas' Oldest Newspaper. Dickinson woman fights for husband's release amid immigration bond ruling. ↩
5. ABC7 Chicago. Wisconsin ICE news: Wisconsin state trooper's ICE release expected after Aaron Van Der Merwe detained at Madison airport. ↩
6. 1819 News. A dozen arrested, two detained by ICE in Daphne human trafficking operation. ↩
7. Newsday. Faced with influx, prosecutor in Washington says he lacks resources to defend immigration cases. ↩
8. CaloNews.com. Report documents 64 cases of abuse, neglect in Arizona detention centers. ↩

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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