How to compile a complete year‑by‑year list of ICE detention deaths using ICE Detainee Death Reports and FOIA releases
Executive summary
A complete, year‑by‑year list of deaths in ICE custody can be compiled by systematically harvesting ICE’s Detainee Death Reporting page and the agency’s FOIA Library, then cross‑validating those items against FOIA releases obtained by watchdogs, media and academic studies to fill gaps and flag discrepancies (ICE posts deaths from FY2018 onward and maintains a FOIA library of older documents) [1] [2]. Given documented delays, redactions and independent findings that many deaths are preventable or under‑examined, researchers must treat ICE reports as a primary source but not the sole arbiter of completeness or cause [3] [4] [5].
1. Clarify scope and authoritative sources before collecting
Decide whether the list will follow fiscal year or calendar year, and which cases count (deaths in ICE‑operated facilities, in contractor facilities, in hospitals after transfer, or deaths during ICE operations)—ICE’s official Detainee Death Reporting page provides individual death reports beginning in Fiscal Year 2018 and links to a FOIA Library for prior documents, while ICE’s FOIA “Detainee Deaths—October 2003 through 2013” PDF gives an older roster [1] [2].
2. First harvest: scrape ICE’s Detainee Death Reporting and FOIA Library
Begin by programmatically downloading every death report and the FOIA‑posted death lists from ICE’s site; scholars note that ICE has published death reports since April 2018 and posts FOIA‑released death review documents in its FOIA library, so these are the canonical starting files [6] [1]. For older years, pull the archived “List of Deaths in ICE Custody October 2003 – December 2, 2013” PDF and any subsequent FOIA release bundles as primary inputs [2].
3. Fill gaps with FOIA releases and third‑party FOIA compilations
Submit FOIA requests to ICE and to local facilities (county jails, private contractors) for death reviews, medical records and inspection reports when agency postings are missing; many NGOs and reporters have already used FOIA to obtain troves of documents—PHR, ACLU and American Oversight reviewed >14,500 pages via FOIA to analyze deaths from 2017–2021 and found systemic failures, demonstrating the value of FOIA follow‑ups [3] [4]. Also consult FOIA datasets re‑hosted by projects like the Deportation Data Project and academic supplements that compiled FOIA outputs for longitudinal analysis [7] [6].
4. Cross‑validate with independent reporting and academic datasets
Compare ICE’s counts and dates with investigative timelines from reputable outlets and peer‑reviewed analyses; Guardian, Reuters and Project On Government Oversight reporting highlighted that 2025 saw unusually high deaths and contemporaneous lapses in inspection publication, indicating that ICE web listings may lag or omit contextual oversight data [8] [9]. Use PubMed/PMC studies that calculated death rates using ICE‑posted data to check for internal consistency across years [6] [10].
5. Reconcile discrepancies, document uncertainty, and classify entries
When ICE reports, FOIA documents and media accounts disagree on date, facility or cause, keep an audit trail: record source, timestamp of retrieval, and any redactions or withheld fields; label entries as “ICE‑reported,” “FOIA corroborated,” or “media‑only” to preserve provenance and to avoid overclaiming. Prior reviews note ICE reviews sometimes omit exhibits and may frame findings as informational, so transparently annotating missing material is essential [5] [11].
6. Practical workflow and output: tools, formats and maintenance
Automate harvesting with scripts that check ICE’s Detainee Death Reporting page and FOIA Library daily, store PDFs and metadata in a searchable database, and flag new or updated reports for manual review; export annually as CSV/JSON with fields for fiscal/calendar year aggregation, decedent demographics (when available), facility, reported cause, and source tags. Recognize FOIA limits—requests can be slow, redacted, or litigated—so supplement with NGO FOIA releases and peer‑reviewed compilations while clearly noting where records are incomplete or contested [3] [4] [7].