HRW Report: ~13,000 US Deportees Sent to Mexico Face Cartel Violence; ICE Detention Population Hits 60,000

Human Rights Watch on May 27, 2026 published a report documenting that approximately 13,000 Cubans, Venezuelans, and other nationals deported by the Trump administration had been deposited in Mexico — a country not their own — where they face acute danger from cartel violence and exploitation rather than safe return to their home countries. HRW documented cases of deportees being extorted, threatened, and subjected to violence by criminal organizations operating in border regions. The report also noted that the ICE detainee population had spiked approximately 50% during Trump's second term, reaching 60,000 daily detainees — an unprecedented high — while suicide rates in immigration detention facilities are running at historically elevated levels. The HRW findings add to a growing body of international criticism of the Trump deportation regime, which has removed approximately 605,000 migrants since January 2025 and resulted in an estimated 1.9 million self-deportations. The report was cited by civil liberties organizations in ongoing litigation against the administration's 'safe third country' deportation-to-Mexico policy. The ACLU has argued that deporting nationals of Cuba and Venezuela to Mexico — a country whose government they have no ties to — violates both US law and international non-refoulement obligations.