"ICE recently announced that Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi, a 59-year-old Iranian man who has lived in the U.S. since 1991, died while in the agency's custody. Najafabadi was incarcerated for nearly a year in a rural Louisiana prison despite suffering from chronic heart disease. He is one of dozens to die in ICE custody since Trump took office, as the administration insists on jailing people facing deportation orders, including refugees and longtime U.S. residents."
"ICE reported the death on March 6, five days after Najafabadi passed away at a hospital in rural Mississippi and six days after Trump began his war on Iran. ICE policy requires deaths to be reported publicly within 48 hours, one of many standards observers say the agency appears to be systemically ignoring."
"Democratic lawmakers, civil rights groups, people jailed by ICE, and their family members have all reported medical neglect and other abuses in jails run by the agency and its contractors for months now. Immigrant rights groups have said those waiting for immigration hearings should not be incarcerated in the first place - especially if they have health problems."
Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi, a 59-year-old Iranian resident of the U.S. since 1991, died in ICE custody in March 2025 after nearly a year of incarceration in a rural Louisiana prison despite suffering from chronic heart disease. ICE reported the death five days after it occurred, violating its own 48-hour reporting requirement. Najafabadi's death occurred amid Trump's bombing campaign in Iran and intensified mass deportation efforts. Democratic lawmakers, civil rights groups, and immigrant advocates have documented systematic medical neglect and abuse in ICE facilities. An immigration judge had ordered Najafabadi's removal in 2014, but he was released on court supervision because deportation to Iran was not possible at that time.
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