Santos Banegas Reyes, 42, dies after hours in ICE custody at Nassau County jail in New York
Sep 29, 2025·Location: East Meadow, NY
Country of origin: Honduras

Santos Edilberto Banegas Reyes, a 42-year-old Honduran construction worker from Hempstead, died on September 18, 2025 after less than 18 hours in ICE custody at Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow, New York. He was arrested by ICE Long Island Fugitive Operations on September 17, 2025 and processed at the jail the same day. He was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead at 6:30 a.m. on September 18. Initial reports cited liver failure related to alcoholism complications, but ICE later revised the cause of death to acute alcohol withdrawal. His sister told reporters he had no underlying health conditions and said officials had not contacted the family. His death prompted a protest on September 29, 2025 at the County Executive Building in Mineola, where advocates called for ICE to leave Long Island and demanded abolition of the 287(g) program. His family's attorney alleged a cover-up after ICE missed the federal 90-day deadline to release a death report, and the family requested an independent autopsy and video footage from the jail.
Timeline
Sources
- ICE revela causa de muerte de inmigrante fallecido en correccional de Nassau
- phr.org
- Prisoner Who Died At Nassau Jail Identified
patch.com·Sep 22, 2025·archived copy
- ICE detainee found dead in Nassau County jail
longislandpress.com·Sep 19, 2025·archived copy
- Family challenges ICE’s presumed cause of death reveal for Honduran father who died in Long Island jail
aol.com·Sep 24, 2025·archived copy
- ICE: Preliminary cause of death of Nassau jail detainee appears to be liver failure
- Death in ICE custody sparks protest in Nassau County - The Long Island Advocate
longislandadvocate.com·Dec 5, 2025·archived copy
- Nassau County NY — 287(g) expansion, ICE detainee death in jail · Detention Pipeline
- Fallece hondureño bajo custodia de ICE en Nueva York, tras arresto migratorio | THE BORDER REPORTS
theborderreports.com·Sep 23, 2025·archived copy
More incidents in New York
- Bronx Man Wrongly Arrested by ICE After Agents Falsified Records, Judge FindsOct 5, 2026 · Bronx, NY
- ICE targets immigrants with longstanding protections for third-country deportation, advocates sayOct 5, 2026 · New York, NY
- US citizen teen tackled, bloodied by ICE in mistaken Bronx arrest; judge calls it illegalOct 5, 2026 · Bronx, NY
- Detainees at Batavia Facility to Include Women as ICE Expands CapacityOct 2, 2026 · Batavia, NY
- Brazilian father detained without bond hearing after traffic stop, case goes to Supreme CourtOct 1, 2026 · Buffalo, NY
- Salvadoran man deported without removal order, still detained after return to USOct 1, 2026 · Long Island, NY