Pressroom

Our latest press releases on important news and events relating to immigration detention in the United States

For media inquiries contact: media@detentionwatchnetwork.org

DC press conference honors lives lost to ICE detention — the highest death toll in decades

October 30, 2025

Washington, DC — Today Detention Watch Network and Popular Democracy held a press conference to honor people who have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detention. The press conference featured Congresswoman Emily Randall (WA-06), directly impacted people and national immigrant justice leaders who denounced the Trump administration’s mass detention and deportation agenda.

Georgia Advocacy Groups, Organizers, and Impacted Community Members Sound Alarm as a Notorious South Georgia Jail Is Poised to Be Used as an ICE Prison Again

October 10, 2025

Atlanta, GA — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is reportedly planning to restart detaining migrants in its custody at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC), a facility notorious for human rights violations, sparking immediate concern from Georgia advocacy groups and directly-impacted community members. 

Advocates mourn another loss of life to ICE detention under Trump — record number of ICE deaths within a calendar year

October 7, 2025

Imperial County, California — Freedom for Immigrants, Imperial Liberation Collaborative, and Detention Watch Network are mourning the death of Huabing Xie who died in ICE custody on September 29 after being detained at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in California. Immigrant justice groups are demanding an immediate investigation and public release of the findings related to Mr. Xie’s death. 

DWN mourns the loss of life in ICE custody: Immigrant lives are of value, and immigrants deserve safety, dignity and respect

September 25, 2025

Washington, DC — In response to the shooting at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Field Office in Dallas, Detention Watch Network released the following statement:

“Detention Watch Network condemns the shooting in Dallas that resulted in the death of an immigrant in ICE custody. A person tragically lost their life — a family will forever be changed — while two other people are fighting for their lives in critical condition.

Cruel and Deadly: Another Life Tragically Lost to Immigration Detention

September 4, 2025

Florence, AZ — The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project and Detention Watch Network are mourning the tragic loss of Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas, 32, affectionately known as "Lenchito,” a beloved son, brother, and friend who died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on Sunday, August 31, 2025. ICE had detained Mr. Batrez Vargas at Central Arizona Correctional Complex in Florence, Arizona and has reported that the cause of his death is currently unknown.

Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition Now Available as an Audiobook

August 21, 2025

Washington, DC — Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition, by Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network is now available as an Audiobook. Unbuild Walls, released in May 2024, dives into US immigration policy and its relationship to mass incarceration, from the last 40 years to the present, showing how the prison-industrial complex and immigration enforcement are intertwined systems of repression.

Pages