How many deaths during USA forcible deportation between 2009 and 2016
Executive summary
A single authoritative tally of "how many deaths during USA forcible deportation between 2009 and 2016" does not exist in the available reporting: government records published for parts of that window show dozens of in‑custody deaths, while investigative reporting documents additional killings of people after they were deported — and advocates say official counts understate the true toll [1] [2] [3]. Given these fractured sources, the best conclusion is that known, reported deaths tied to U.S. deportation practices in that period number in the dozens, but neither a complete nor a consolidated count for 2009–2016 is available from the records provided here [1] [2] [3].
1. What the question actually asks and why it’s hard to answer
The phrase "deaths during USA forcible deportation" can mean at least two things: deaths that occurred while people were in U.S. custody (during detention or removal procedures), and deaths suffered after being returned to their home countries as a consequence of deportation; the reporting supplied mixes both categories and does not offer a single combined dataset for 2009–2016, which creates a fundamental measurement problem [1] [2].
2. Official records on deaths in ICE custody (the narrowest, best‑tracked set)
ICE death reviews made public in 2016 cover a subset of detainee deaths: Human Rights Watch noted that the ICE "detainee death reviews" released in June 2016 described 18 cases and that those 18 were part of 31 deaths ICE acknowledged since May 2012 through mid‑2015, illustrating that at least dozens of in‑custody deaths were officially recorded in that part of the 2009–2016 window [1]. ICE itself has a detainee death reporting policy and publishes reports, but the documents in the provided set do not present a complete year‑by‑year aggregation covering 2009–2016 in one place [4] [1].
3. Deaths after deportation — investigative reporting that tallies killings abroad
Independent investigations documented people murdered after being returned to Central America: The Guardian reported that as many as 83 deportees were killed since 2014 in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, a figure focused on post‑return murders rather than deaths that happened in U.S. custody or during the physical act of removal [2]. That reporting therefore points to an additional dimension of mortality linked to deportation policy but does not map neatly into "during forcible deportation" if that phrase is interpreted only as deaths occurring in the course of U.S. operations.
4. Why official tallies likely undercount the full mortality related to deportation
Advocacy groups and regional research flag unrecorded deaths and measurement gaps: No More Deaths reported that in some U.S.–Mexico border regions official counts may be two to four times lower than independent tallies for certain years, and academic reviews note that ICE figures can omit people released shortly before death or those who die after removal, so published ICE numbers likely understate broader mortality connected to deportation practices [3] [5]. The patchwork of facilities, differing reporting standards, and the separation between in‑custody deaths and post‑deportation killings all conspire to prevent a single, reliable consolidated total from the sources provided [1] [3].
5. Reasoned answer based on available evidence
Using only the supplied sources, the most defensible, evidence‑based statement is that dozens of people died in ICE custody during parts of the 2009–2016 period (for example, ICE acknowledged 31 deaths from May 2012 through mid‑2015, and 18 detailed reviews were released in 2016), and investigative reporting independently documents dozens more deaths of deportees after return (the Guardian cited as many as 83 killed since 2014) — but there is no single authoritative count that aggregates all deaths "during forcible deportation" across 2009–2016 in the materials reviewed [1] [2] [3].
6. What this means for public understanding and accountability
The absence of a unified count should raise concern: public oversight relies on transparent, consistent reporting that distinguishes in‑custody deaths from post‑deportation outcomes, and multiple sources — ICE records, NGOs and investigative journalism — together paint a picture of systemic problems and likely undercounting rather than a definitive numeric ledger for 2009–2016 [4] [1] [3]. Readers seeking a crisp number should be warned that none of the provided sources supplies a comprehensive 2009–2016 total, and further FOIA releases or consolidated government reporting would be required to produce a verifiable single figure.