Third ICE Custody Death This Week, 11th Since January 1
Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi, a 59-year-old Iranian national, was pronounced dead on Sunday, March 1, 2026 at Merit Health Hospital in Natchez, Mississippi, becoming the eleventh person to die in ICE custody since the start of the 2026 calendar year, at a rate that now averages one detained death approximately every six days.
Notably, ICE is required by policy to report detained deaths within 48 hours of their occurrence, yet this death does not appear to have been publicly reported until approximately five days after it took place, raising questions about compliance with the agency’s own reporting requirements.
Karshenas Najafabadi’s death is the eleventh recorded death in ICE custody since the start of the 2026 calendar year, and the third to occur within the current week alone. Across the 65 days that have elapsed since January 1st, these eleven deaths amount to an average of one detained death approximately every six days, a rate that, if sustained through the remainder of the year, would project to roughly 66 deaths in ICE custody by December 31, 2026.
How coincidental that an Iranian national died in ICE custody about the same time the US started bombing Iran...
It is highly disturbing that these deaths are not reported as they should be. It is even more disturbing that they are even happening. These people WOULD NOT BE DEAD if they had been treated with dignity and not caged like animals. Every last person responsible for these deaths must be held accountable.