Ranking Member Jayapal Leads Dozens in Demanding Transparency on Deaths in Immigration Detention

SEATTLE, WA — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, is leading 70 Members of Congress in demanding transparency on detention centers following a record number of deaths and recent reporting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials claimed a homicide was a suicide. 

“Being placed in immigration detention should never amount to a death sentence. The families of those in detention centers, along with the rest of the American people, deserve transparency and accountability now,” wrote the Members. 

There are a record number of immigrants currently in detention, and 2025 was “ICE’s deadliest year,” with 31 deaths in custody. In the first weeks of 2026, another six detained immigrants have died. ICE staff claimed that one of those individuals, Geraldo Lunas Campos, who died on January 3, 2026, died by suicide, despite witness accounts that he had been choked to death by ICE officers. Mr. Lunas Campos’s death has since been ruled a homicide by the medical examiner. Another immigrant, Chaofeng Ge, was reported by ICE to have died by suicide, yet an autopsy revealed that he had died with his hands and feet bound. 

Violent incidents and contradicting accounts regarding causes of death accompany further reports of inedible food, unsanitary living spaces, and serious delays to medical care across facilities. The Trump administration has simultaneously taken unprecedented action to block Congressional oversight at detention facilities.

“This rise in deaths in custody points to systemic failures in the immigration detention system that require immediate attention,” continued the Members. “Individuals in ICE custody are dependent on the care and safety that the federal government provides. All immigration detention facilities, regardless of whether they are operated by private companies or the federal government, are legally required to meet constitutional and statutory standards, including the provision of adequate medical care and safe living conditions.”

The full text of the letter can be read here.

The letter was also signed by Gabe Amo (RI-01), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Becca Balint (VT-At Large), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Shontel Brown (OH-11), Janelle Bynum (OR-05), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Greg Casar (TX-35), Judy Chu (CA-27), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), J. Luis Correa (CA-46), Jason Crow (CO-06), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-08), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), John Garamendi (CA-08), Jesús “Chuy”  García (IL-04), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (GA-04), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), John Larson (CT-01), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), John Mannion (NY-22), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Robert Menendez (NJ-08), Grace Meng (NY-06), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Dave Min (CA-47), Kelly Morrison (MN-03), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Scott Peters (CA-50), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Emily Randall (WA-06), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Andrea Salinas (OR-29), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Darren Soto (FL-09), Mike Thompson (CA-04), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Gabe Vasquez (NM-02), Nikema Williams (GA-05), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24).

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Issues: Immigration