A 42-year-old Honduran man died in New York while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), bringing to seventeen the number of migrants who have died in ICE custody this fiscal year, a five-year high.
ICE reported the death of Santos Reyes Banegas at the Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow, east of New York City, from suspected liver failure “complicated by alcoholism,” according to the preliminary cause reported by the agency in a statement.
Honduran man dies in ICE custody
The man who died in a Nassau County jail cell last week after being arrested by ICE has been identified as Santos Banegas Reyes. Reyes, 42, is survived by two children, according to an online fundraiser to help his family cover funeral costs.https://t.co/GMGYwhHVgN
– New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) (@thenyic) September 23, 2025
Santos Reyes Banegas died on September 18 just 18 hours after arriving at the detention center, where “by protocol he underwent a medical examination” that declared him admissible the day before, the government agency said.
But authorities, who clarify that the official cause of death is still under investigation, later found him unconscious in his detention unit.
The agency assured that the Honduran, “who entered the United States illegally four times, admitted to a history of alcohol abuse”.
The Central American last entered the United States, after deportations in 2004, 2005 and 2019, authorities arrested him on Sept. 17 on Long Island, where they began deportation proceedings.
The death of Santos Reyes Banegas would add to the 16 migrant deaths already officially recognized by ICE so far in fiscal year 2025, which began in October 2024, surpassing the 12 recorded during the entire previous fiscal year.
This is the highest number since 2021 and the second highest since records began, as twenty-one deaths were counted in fiscal year 2020, during the covid-19 pandemic.
The previous death acknowledged by ICE is that of Lorenzo Antonio Batres, a 32-year-old Mexican national, who died on August 31 in a hospital following his detention at the Central Arizona Correctional Complex in the city of Florence.
Filed under: Honduran Dies in ICE Custody
With information from EFE
