Alejandro Cabrera Clemente Was the 16th: Inside the Deadliest Start to a Year in ICE History
Winn Correctional Center
Location: Rural Winn Parish, Louisiana Type: Private Prison Contractor: LaSalle Corrections (since 2015)
ICE Operations: Began detaining immigrant populations in 2019.
Scale: One of eight Louisiana facilities repurposed as immigrant detention hubs.
Capacity: Current headcount stands at 1,577.
Winn Correctional Center: A Record of Neglect
Investigations and Violations Federal complaints against Winn Correctional Center have accumulated for years, pointing to systemic failures. A 2021 DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties probe uncovered nearly ninety violations within the center.
Core Issues Identified:
Medical Neglect: Chronic and rampant failure to provide adequate healthcare, as detailed in the Anthology of Abuse report.
Mental Health: Services were found to be essentially nonexistent.
Use of Force: Documented instances of force, including the use of chemical agents, without oversight or checks.
The Result: Investigators originally recommended clearing the facility until necessary repairs and systemic changes were made. However, as noted by The Appeal, those repairs never came, and the facility continues to operate under these conditions.
Abuse and Retaliation
The Anthology of Abuse report from Detention Watch Network and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights group exposed the machinery of the facility. Medical care was often denied on purpose:
Insulin was withheld and inhalers were taken away.
Staff reportedly pushed ibuprofen for every complaint.
In one extreme case, a detainee ripped out his own cyst to stop an infection.
A kidney patient lost his wheelchair and had to be carried to the bathroom by others.
Beyond medical neglect, the environment is defined by physical risk. A 2024 federal filing recorded guards pepper spraying an entire dorm of two hundred people before killing the power and water. Sexual harassment and physical beatings by officers have also been documented.
Case Study: Alejandro Cabrera Clemente
On April 11, 2026, Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, a 49 year old Mexican national, died after being found unresponsive at Winn. He had lived in the U.S. for over 25 years before being detained in Tennessee and transferred to this facility. His death marks the 16th in ICE custody in the first 100 days of 2026 alone.
The Mexican government condemned the death quickly, noting that 15 Mexican nationals have died in ICE custody during this administration.
Abuse and Retaliation: The Human Cost
The Anthology of Abuse report, a collaborative effort by Detention Watch Network, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition, exposed the internal machinery of the facility. The findings suggest that medical care was often denied on purpose as a matter of unofficial policy.
Systemic Medical Failures:
Life-Saving Medication: Reports indicate insulin was withheld and inhalers were taken away from detainees.
Specialized Care: Access to hormone therapy was cut off for those requiring it.
Inadequate Treatment: Staff reportedly pushed ibuprofen as a universal solution for every medical complaint.
Desperation: In one extreme case, a detainee reportedly ripped out his own cyst to stop a worsening infection.
Mobility Denied: A kidney patient lost access to his wheelchair, requiring other detainees to carry him to the bathroom.
Living Conditions and Violence: The environment at Winn is characterized by filth and physical risk. The Advocate has documented reports of undrinkable water and expired food, with solitary confinement used as a constant daily threat.
Language barriers further complicate the crisis, effectively killing requests for medical care and blocking access to asylum forms. A 2024 federal filing recorded a horrific escalation where guards pepper sprayed an entire dorm of two hundred people before killing the power and water.
Documented Physical Abuse:
Sexual harassment by staff.
Physical beatings by officers.
Retaliation against those who speak out.
Despite advocates pushing for full closure, the facility remains operational.
The 2026 Ledger of the Discarded
The machine does not just take lives; it attempts to redact them. To ensure the record refuses to forget, here is the ledger of those who have died in ICE custody so far in 2026. Each name represents a life that was worth more than the overhead saved by the private entities that held them.
Geraldo Lunas Campos | January 3, 2026 | Camp East Montana (Fort Bliss), TX
Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres | January 5, 2026 | Joe Corley Processing Center, TX
Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz | January 6, 2026 | Imperial Regional Detention Facility, CA
Parady La | January 9, 2026 | FDC Philadelphia, PA
Heber Sanchez Dominguez | January 14, 2026 | Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility, GA
Victor Manuel Diaz | January 14, 2026 | Camp East Montana (Fort Bliss), TX
Lorth Sim | February 16, 2026 | Miami Correctional Facility, IN
Jairo Garcia-Hernandez | February 16, 2026 | Larkin Community Hospital (via Glades), FL
Alberto Gutierrez-Reyes | February 27, 2026 | Adelanto Detention Center, CA
Emmanuel Clifford Damas | March 2, 2026 | Florence Correctional Center, AZ
Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi | March 1, 2026 | Adams County Detention Center, MS
Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal | March 13, 2026 | Prairieland Detention Center, TX
Royer Perez-Jimenez | March 16, 2026 | Glades County Detention Center, FL
Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano | March 25, 2026 | Adelanto Detention Center, CA
Tuan Van Bui | April 1, 2026 | Miami Correctional Facility, IN
Alejandro Cabrera Clemente | April 11, 2026 | Winn Correctional Center, LA
This is the design: human life means nothing to the machine. Extract maximum profit with minimal overhead.
This is the design: human life means nothing to the machine. Extract maximum profit with minimal overhead.
This is the design: human life means nothing to the machine. Extract maximum profit with minimal overhead.