A 68-year-old man from Honduras, who lived in the U.S. for more than two decades, has died less than two months after being detained by ICE.
What we know:
Luis Beltran Yanez–Cruz died at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio, California, on January 6.
Officials say he was admitted for heart-related health issues after experiencing chest pain at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility on January 4.
Yanez-Cruz was in ICE custody pending removal proceedings at the time of his death.
What we don't know:
Officials have yet to release a cause of death for Yanez–Cruz.
The backstory:
Yanez–Cruz was arrested by ICE agents during a targeted enforcement operation in Newark on November 16, 2025.
Officials say he was removed from the U.S. after being arrested for illegal entry into Texas in 1993, then reentered the country without authorization at an unknown date.
"Between 1999 and 2012, he submitted multiple applications for temporary protected status, all of which were denied," according to a release from ICE.
The Source: Information from this article was provided by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.