The death toll of Asian immigrants in ICE Custody is growing: Part 2 of 2

Family and supporters of Parady La demand answers after he died while detained by ICE.

The numbers are in, and they paint a grim picture of what’s happening in our detention centers. In what’s being called the deadliest year in two decades, at least 12 Asian immigrants have lost their lives while in the custody of federal agents between 2024 and early 2026.

ICE agents arrested Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal around 7 a.m. on Friday, March 13, outside his apartment in Richardson, Texas. His family reported that masked agents detained him as he was preparing to drive his children to school.

“His children watched as he was surrounded and taken away,” the family said in a statement. “That moment will stay with them forever.”

A day after being arrested, Paktyawal died, of "unknown causes," according to an ICE press release. He was the twelth Asian to die while in ICE custody.

“We cannot understand how this happened. He was only 41 years old and was a strong and healthy man,” his family said.

        RELATED: ICE's wide net catching Asian Americans: Part 1 of 2

ICE described him as "illegal criminal alien,"  but he was never charged and never convicted, say his supporters.

Paktyawal was a refugee who fought for 10 years with US Special Forces in Afghanistan. When the US left Afghanistan, he and his family were allowed to apply for asylum.

The Trump regime has effectively shut refugee pathways for Afghans, curtailing the US refugee programe and instead giving preference to white South Africans.

The administration also ended temporary protected status for Afghans, leaving an estimated 11,700 Afghans in the US without protection from deportation, according to the organisation Global Refuge.

Refugee dies after being abandoned by ICE

Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, was one of the latest victims of federal agents carrying out the orders of Donald Trump and his hatchet man Stephen Miller.Shah Alam sas released from custody on Feb. 19. A Rohingya refugee with legal status in the United States, his body was found Feb. 26. According to publicly available reporting and information provided by his family, Shah Alam was nearly blind, did not speak English, and was unable to independently navigate transportation after being released miles from his family residence.

“Nurul Amin Shah Alam should be alive today. He is dead because US Border Patrol agents abandoned a blind refugee miles away from home and then lied to cover it up. Video footage proves that Mr. Alam was left outside of a coffee shop that was closed, not a ‘warm, safe location’ as they claimed," said Rep. Grace Meng, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

"The Department of Homeland Security’s cruelty, callousness, and indifference to human life is absolutely sickening," the New York congressmember continued. "As members of Congress, we demand answers and justice for his family. The Department of Homeland Security must be held accountable.” 

The death of Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal and Shah Alam are just the latest deaths of Asian American detainees in the first two months of 2026. The other two deaths this year so far include: 

• Lorth Sim (59, Cambodia): Passed away Feb. 16, 2026, at the Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana.
• Parady La (46, Cambodia): Died Jan. 9, 2026, in Philadelphia while reportedly being treated for drug withdrawal.

Asian American deaths in Trump's first year

These aren’t just statistics; they are members of our community whose stories were cut short. Eight other Asians died while in custody of Donald Trump's immigration enforcement officers in 2024 and 2025:

• Shiraz Fatehali Sachwani (61, Pakistan): Died Dec. 6, 2025.

• Kai Yin Wong (63, China): Died Oct. 25, 2025, in San Antonio after heart surgery complications.

• Huabing Xie (53, China): Died Sept. 29, 2025, after a seizure at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in California.

• Chaofeng Ge (32, China): Died Aug. 5, 2025, in Pennsylvania; a death his family is still seeking answers for through a lawsuit.

• Tien Xuan Phan (55, Vietnam): Died July 19, 2025, following a hospitalization for seizures.

• Nhon Ngoc Nguyen (Vietnam): Died in 2025.

• Jaspal Singh (57, India) and Pankaj Karan Singh Kataria (60, India): Both died in late 2024.

Community advocates like Stop AAPI Hate point to medical neglect and language barriers as a "human rights crisis" within these facilities.

An Asian American mother joins a memorial for her son and others who died in ICE custody.

The scale of the surge

The crackdown hasn't just been about those who have died; the entire system has seen a massive ramp-up:

• Asians in custody: As of early 2026, the number of Asian immigrants held in detention has ballooned. Between January and mid-October 2025 alone, 7,069 Asian individuals were detained. This is part of a broader trend where total ICE detention reached a record high of over 68,000 people by February 2026.

• Already deported: From January 20 to mid-October 2025, 2,631 Asian individuals were removed from the country.

• Who is being targeted?: Despite the rhetoric of targeting "criminals," recent data shows a "supermajority"—between 74% and 84%—of Asian detainees in 2025 had no prior criminal convictions. The top countries of origin for these arrests include China (30%), India (28%), and Vietnam (15%).

Southeast Asians targeted

In the wake of Operation Metro Surge and Operation PARRIS, Asian Americans and Asian immigrants in Minneapolis are living in fear, afraid to leave their homes without carrying their passports and worried they could be detained or deported at any moment. ICE agents have reportedly asked Minnesota residents to tell them where their Asian neighbors live.

The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul is home to one of the largest Hmong American communities, most of whom are refugees because their family members aided or fought for US forces in the Vietnam War. As legal refugees, they were given Temporary Protected Status visas.

“Southeast Asian communities are being systematically targeted. Immigration enforcement knows where they live. People are not getting the medical support they need, workers are refusing to go to work, and families are living in hiding. Survivors of violence and refugees who fled war are being retraumatized. That’s no way to live,” said Xay Yang, executive director of Transforming Generations.

“Southeast Asian American communities have been dealing with ICE violence for decades, with more than 15,000 people living under deportation orders to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. We know that the problem isn’t new—but the scale is. In 2025 alone, nearly 900 individuals were deported to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, compared to an average of about 90 per year between 1996 and 2023," said Quyen Đình, Executive Director of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC).

“My people consider being Hmong to be synonymous with being free, because of our resilience and survival, despite a history of persecution from ruling governments in the many places where we have migrated for thousands of years. It deeply saddens me that Trump and federal leaders are choosing to mark the 250 years of our beautiful country by undermining our democracy and taking away our human and civil rights,” said Minnesota State Representative Liz Lee, Secretary of the National Asian Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators. 

“For the Karen communities in my district and across Minnesota, the loss of Temporary Protected Status and the burden of immigration re-vetting interviews are placing immense strain on families. We will continue to organize and gather to ensure that all of our legal rights are observed and respected.”

View from the edge

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) racial profiling and aggressive enforcement practices have resulted in trauma, family separation, and death. 

2025 was recorded as the deadliest year for ICE in over two decades, with deaths nearly tripling from 2024 as the detained population reached record highs of over 68,000.

“Forty people have died in ICE custody since the President took office last year. These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a broader pattern of lawlessness and moral decay that has come to define the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and it is our communities that are suffering,” said Meng. 

“We must rein in DHS and take every action to protect our communities, like passing the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act, which would end the deportation of Southeast Asian American refugees and provide a pathway for them to live and work in the United States. CAPAC is proud to champion this legislation.”

It's only March and we have nine more months to go. At the current rate, we are at a looking at 12 more Asian American deaths as a result of ICE activities by year's end. How many more must die before someone is held accountable?

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge.