US immigration enforcement faced mounting scrutiny Friday from international officials, American voters and congressional Democrats amid a detainee death ruled a homicide by the county medical examiner and record deaths in custody.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on the US to ensure its immigration policies comply with international law, citing arbitrary detentions, family separations and dehumanizing rhetoric. A New York Times/Siena University poll found a majority of US voters believe ICE tactics have “gone too far.” And Democratic lawmakers demanded Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem answer for a growing death toll in immigration detention since President Donald Trump took office for his second term.

The El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled this week that Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban migrant held at a Texas detention camp, died of asphyxiation — a homicide. ICE initially said Campos died after staff “observed him in distress.” Citing witness testimony, The Washington Post reported the guards choked him to death. The homicide ruling adds to intensifying controversy over deaths involving ICE, following the fatal shooting of Renee Good, 37, by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.

The UN’s Türk said individuals are being detained “sometimes violently” at hospitals, places of worship, schools, and homes “often solely on mere suspicion of being undocumented migrants.” He noted that children are missing school and medical appointments out of fear of family separation.

“States have the authority to establish their national migration policies, but this needs to be carried out in full accordance with the law,” Türk said. “Adhering to due process is crucial to the legality and legitimacy of any policy.”

Türk’s statement comes amid declining public support for ICE. A New York Times/Siena University poll of 1,625 registered voters conducted Jan. 12-17 found that 61 percent of voters believe ICE tactics have “gone too far,” including 71 percent of independents and 19 percent of Republicans. Across the political spectrum, just 26 percent of voters thought the enforcement tactics used by ICE were “about right.”

In Friday’s statement, the high commissioner also called for an independent investigation into deaths in ICE custody, adding that 36 people have reportedly died in ICE custody since President Donald Trump took office for his second term on Jan. 20, 2025. ICE’s detainee death reporting website lists only 18 deaths for fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 30, but the page has not been updated since October and does not yet include fiscal year 2026 figures.

Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Noem on Thursday demanding answers about what they called a “callous disregard for human life.” The letter, signed by 13 House members led by Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, cited 53 total deaths in ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody since Trump took office — and alleged that DHS attempted to deport two witnesses to Campos’s death while the investigation remained open. DHS has maintained Campos attempted to take his own life and resisted staff who intervened. Lawmakers demanded documentation on all custody deaths, medical staffing levels and mental health screening protocols by Feb. 5.