UN human rights chief demands accountability for deaths in US immigration custody
Volker Türk calls for an end to deportations to dangerous regions and criticizes ICE's plan to acquire electric shock devices.
Quick Look
UN human rights chief Volker Türk has demanded accountability for 23 deaths in US immigration custody in 2026, urging the US to halt deportations to dangerous locations and criticizing plans to equip ICE agents with electric shock devices.
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Why It Matters
The US has seen a rise in immigration detention deaths in 2026 amid a crackdown on illegal immigration. ICE is currently facing scrutiny over its use of force and planned procurement of electric shock devices.
The United Nations human rights chief demanded accountability for swelling numbers of deaths in US immigration custody on Monday, urging Washington to halt deportations to places where people face "irreparable harm."
Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council, Volker Türk highlighted that "four more people have died in US immigration custody since my last update to this council" in June.
That meant there had been "a total of 23 deaths in 2026 alone," he said, insisting that "there needs to be accountability for these deaths."
US President Donald Trump has made combating illegal immigration a top priority of his second term, with authorities rounding up thousands of people and expanding detention centres.
A joint report by Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights in June said that the rate of people dying in ICE custody has reached its highest level in over a decade amid Trump's crackdown.
The UN rights chief also called out a range of other US immigration enforcement practices, including forcing migrant returns to dangerous places and to countries they had no connection to.
"I urge the United States to halt the return of people to places where they could suffer irreparable harm, including Haiti, and to ensure due process for all removals to third countries," he told the council.
Türk also voiced alarm at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency's reported plans to "equip immigration agents with electric shock gloves" warning this would "increase the violence associated with their operations."
The plan to purchase the shock gloves, which was first reported by the Associated Press news agency, calls for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the ICE parent agency, to spend between $10-20 million (€8-17 million) on what are described as "distraction and de-escalation" devices.
ICE has come in for criticism for a series of fatal shootings during enforcement operations, including those of two American citizens in Minnesota in January who were involved in anti-ICE protests.
Critics have focused on the forceful tactics used by ICE agents in rounding up migrants and on an alleged lowering of the standards of training for new recruits.
Open Questions
- Will the US government respond to the UN's demand for accountability?
- Will the procurement of electric shock gloves proceed?
