Cambodian man dies in ICE custody as US probes seventh detainee death this year

2026-02-20 - 06:13

WASHINGTON — 19 February 2026, The United States has opened an investigation into the seventh death this year of an immigrant held in custody by U.S. immigration authorities. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal law-enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security, said on Wednesday that officers are investigating the death of a 59-year-old Cambodian man who was found unresponsive in his cell at a detention facility in Indiana on Monday. ICE said the man, identified as Loth Sim, was taken into custody in Boston in December as part of immigration enforcement. He first arrived in the United States as a refugee in 1983 and became a lawful permanent resident in 1986. A U.S. immigration judge ordered his removal to Cambodia in 2006. Prior to his latest detention, he had faced arrests on charges including public indecency and theft. ICE said staff found Sim unresponsive in his cell early Monday and that facility personnel and emergency medical services attempted lifesaving measures, but he was later pronounced dead at about 07:10 local time. The agency said the cause of his death remains under investigation and that required notifications have been made to oversight offices and the Cambodian consulate. The death marks the seventh detainee fatality in ICE custody this year, according to agency figures. ICE data show that immigration detentions have risen to their highest level in two decades under President Donald Trump’s administration. At the start of February, roughly 68 000 people were being held in ICE-controlled facilities, up from about 40 000 at the beginning of Trump’s term. Democrats and civil-rights groups have criticised conditions in U.S. immigration detention facilities, describing them as inhumane. The debate has intensified following several high-profile deaths, including that of Jeraldo Lunas Campos, a Cuban migrant who died in a Texas detention centre in early January. Local medical examiners ruled his death a homicide caused by asphyxia from neck and body compression, and witnesses alleged security staff applied force during his arrest. ICE has maintained that detainees receive appropriate medical care, and federal authorities have denied allegations of mistreatment.