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The use of force by personnel in the detention centers of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) increased by 37% in 2025 compared to 2024, according to data collected by The Washington Post.
The records document at least 780 incidents that included physical force, stun guns, and chemical agents such as pepper spray during that period. The number of affected individuals rose by 54%, reaching 1,330 individuals.
Among the most alarming cases, force was used against detainees who were simply asking for basic necessities: food, water, medical attention, or their personal belongings.
The increase within detention centers adds to a documented escalation also seen in field operations. Internal communications from the Department of Homeland Security revealed that between January 19 and March 20, 2025, incidents of force used during arrests rose by 353% compared to the same period in 2024.
This situation aligns with a record number of deaths in ICE custody not seen in over two decades. In 2025, 33 detained immigrants died, compared to 11 in 2024. By May 1, 2026, at least 18 deaths have already been recorded this year, with a rate of 88.9 fatalities per 100,000 detainees, the highest in 22 years according to a study published in the medical journal JAMA.
The Cuban community has been particularly hard hit. Three Cubans have died in ICE custody in recent months. Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55 years old, died on January 3 in Camp East Montana, Texas; the forensic autopsy classified his death as a homicide by asphyxiation, contradicting the official ICE account which described it as "spontaneous use of force." Witnesses heard the detainee say "I can't breathe" during the restraint. The FBI has opened an investigation into the case.
The autopsy confirmed that Lunas Campos died from asphyxia due to neck and torso compression, a conclusion that directly contradicts the agency's report. Previously, human rights organizations had already demanded an investigation into three deaths in detention centers.
Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, 27 years old, died on April 12 at the Federal Detention Center in Miami. And Denny Adán González passed away on May 1 at the Stewart Detention Center.
The detention capacity of ICE almost doubled in one year, rising from approximately 40,000 beds in January 2025 to about 70,000 in January 2026, under the executive orders of the second Trump administration to intensify deportations. Since the beginning of that second term, at least 47 people have died in ICE custody.
According to the Cato Institute, arrests of Cubans by ICE increased by 463% between October 2024 and the end of 2025, rising from fewer than 200 to over 1,000 per month, a figure that reflects the disproportionate impact of these policies on the Cuban diaspora.
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