UN rights chief urges independent probes as ICE custody deaths rise

UN High Commissioner Volker Türk urged urgent, independent investigations into all deaths in U.S. ICE custody and stressed accountability and support for victims’ families amid a rising death toll, with 18 deaths in the first five months of this year and another this month (33 in 2025 vs. 11 in 2024). He highlighted overcrowded facilities, poor healthcare, disease risks, and reports of force, noting five suicides in 2026. Türk called for alternatives to detention, especially for medically vulnerable individuals and children, and for detention to be a last resort, with full compliance with international human rights norms and strengthened independent oversight and congressional scrutiny of funding.