The 15th death in ICE custody, Border Patrol agents unmasked and an Army sergeant's wife detained

Here's what happened this week in immigration news.

This news roundup is co-published on Daylight San Diego, where I’m a co-founder. If you prefer to subscribe through that site, which is run on Ghost, a nonprofit publishing platform, you are welcome to follow along there. You can also make a one-time or recurring donation to Daylight to support my work if that feels more right to you than making a donation through Substack.

Use of force by immigration officials

WIRED identified agents working for Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue and Border Patrol Tactical Unit who used questionable force on Chicagoans. The opening scene of this piece details which agent did what as they moved through a Chicago apartment building after some agents landed on the roof via helicopter. It must have taken an immense amount of reporting.

Customs and Border Protection is spending up to $50 million to stock up on less lethal weapons, The Intercept reported.

Sahan Journal posted a video on Instagram that debunked Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s claims about what led one of its officers to shoot a Minneapolis man.

ICE officers shot a man in a car in northern California who then had to be hospitalized, The Guardian reported. NBC News published a video of what happened.

An ICE vehicle rear-ended an immigrant’s car, hospitalizing him, The Baltimore Banner reported.

A lead attorney for the Department of Homeland Security suggested that officials should have beat protesters and arrested anyone who couldn’t get away during a June 2025 demonstration, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Deaths in — and after — ICE custody

A Vietnamese man died in ICE custody at Miami Correctional Center in Indiana, ABC News reported. His death marks the 15th we know of in ICE custody so far this year and the second in less than two months at the facility.

A medical examiner said that a Bulgarian man who died in ICE custody at North Lake Processing Center in Michigan in December died of natural causes, MLive reported.

The Guardian spoke with the family of a blind Rohingya refugee who died after immigration officials released him without sufficient clothing or guidance in Buffalo, New York.

CBS News attended the funeral of an Indigenous teen who died recently in ICE custody. Miami New Times obtained footage of the violent arrest by police that led to his time in ICE custody.

Custody conditions

A recent inspection of conditions at the ICE facility Camp East Montana in Texas found dozens of violations, El Paso Matters reported. NPR reported the facility is among the top for detainee deaths.

A Human Rights First and RAICES report is among the latest findings of inhumane conditions in an ICE detention center for families in Dilley, Texas.

A Canadian woman married to a U.S. citizen and her child were released after several weeks in ICE custody, but they are still fighting to remain in the country, The Guardian reported.

Two Christian Iranians who sought asylum because of religious persecution have been in ICE custody in Texas since December, Houston Public Media reported.

Hundreds of people detained by ICE in Minnesota remain locked up in detention facilities in Texas, Sahan Journal reported.

KTSM reported that the El Paso County Commissioners Court gave the county attorney permission to sue the federal government for information about a planned detention facility on a parcel of land containing warehouses.

Arrests

ICE detained the wife of an Army staff sergeant shortly after their wedding when the couple tried to get her identification to move onto base with her husband, The New York Times reported. (The reporting seems to suggest that undocumented people who marry U.S. citizens are able to easily get green cards, which is not true. For what it’s worth, that process is complicated and depends on the manner of entry to the U.S.) BBC News later reported that ICE released the wife.

NPR looked at ICE’s new, less visible enforcement tactics after the changeup in Department of Homeland Security leadership. The Atlantic predicted the shift will lead to more deportations.

Federal officials detained relatives of a slain Iranian military commander after revoking their green cards, Reuters reported.

Immigration officials detained a Palestinian community organizer in Wisconsin who has a green card, Al Jazeera reported.

CalMatters reported that a federal judge found that continued Border Patrol sweeps in California violated a court order.

Migrant Insider reported that despite Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz celebrating the achievements of a high school mariachi group, she has been notably absent since ICE arrested two of its members.

The Bulwark’s Huddled Masses newsletter interviewed the mayor of Miami, the city with the highest number of ICE arrests.

South Side Weekly reported that ICE continues to arrest people in Chicago after Operation Midway Blitz.

Deportations

PBS Frontline and El Faro published a new documentary about the deal-making between presidents Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele that led to deportations of Venezuelan men to Salvadoran prison. A Venezuelan man among those held at the notorious Salvadoran prison after deportation from the U.S. is seeking $1.3 million in damages because of the torture he experienced there, CBS News reported.

The New York Times took a big picture look at the way the Trump administration is negotiating with authoritarian rulers to get their countries to accept people deported from the U.S. NBC News reported that a group of Democratic members of Congress are pushing for an investigation of deportations to third countries.

Mother Jones profiled a woman who helped prosecute and deport her abuser only to face deportation herself after the U visa process failed to protect her.

ICE deported 363 pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants from January 2025 through mid-February 2026, The 19th reported.

Borderless Magazine told the story of one man who agreed to deportation because he didn’t know that a lawyer was fighting for his chance to stay. Attorneys are worried that immigrants are being coerced into giving up their rights.

An immigration judge blocked the deportation of a man arrested by ICE after winning his freedom through exoneration in a murder case, The New York Times reported.

Border wall

The border wall in east San Diego County. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

El Pais reported that blasting for border wall construction has damaged a Kumiai sacred, religious site.

Resistance

Philadelphia activists staged a sit-in in the sheriff’s office to protest the official’s lack of action on ICE arrests at local courthouses, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

L.A. Taco reported on the mysterious road signs popping up around Los Angeles telling ICE to get real jobs.

KUT News reported that protesters gathered in the Big Bend region of Texas to try to stop the Trump administration from going forward with border wall construction plans.

A Minneapolis march on Good Friday drew parallels between the story of Jesus’ death and those of people killed at the hands of law enforcement, including by ICE, CBS News reported.

Other stories to watch

Teen Vogue explained the story behind the Supreme Court case from 1898 that set the precedent for birthright citizenship.

The New York Times reported that more than 70 people are missing and feared dead after a migrant boat capsized off of the coast of Libya.

The Associated Press reported that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are struggling to survive after the United Nations’ World Food Program reduced its aid due to U.S. funding cuts.

Immigrant doctors around the country have had to stop working because of a Trump administration rule blocking visa renewals, The New York Times reported.

Migrant Insider reported that Rep. Ayanna Pressley used a procedural maneuver to force the House to vote on continuing Haitian Temporary Protected Status.

Communities are using tactics like “walking buses” to help children get to school amidst fears of ICE, NPR reported.

Longtime San Diego activist Pedro Rios wrote for The Border Chronicle about the border wall, Friendship Park and policies of deterrence.

Borderless Magazine posted a video explainer about who can investigate Chicago police for working with ICE.

The American Immigration Council sued over allegations that the federal government is refusing to turn over individuals’ immigration records requested by attorneys.

Type Investigations and Rest of the World reported on the cross-border growth of a Mexican surveillance company.

Did I miss something? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading. As always, I welcome your questions and feedback.

Take care and stay well.