How many people died in ICE custody during the Trump administration, by official counts and independent investigations?

1. Official ICE count: 32 deaths in 2025 — the number agencies cite

ICE’s publicly available death reports and the agency’s own statements were tallied by multiple outlets and show 32 detainee deaths in 2025, a figure that media outlets called a two-decade high and that ICE itself used in its reporting on the spike in fatalities (The Guardian, American Immigration Council, Wikipedia) ^{[1] [4] [2]}.

2. Independent tallies: lawmakers and rights bodies count more when CBP and reporting gaps are added

Independent counts differ depending on scope: Rep. Bennie Thompson and other congressional actors compiled a figure of 53 total deaths in ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody since Trump took office in his second term, explicitly combining agency populations rather than isolating ICE detainees ^[3]. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other observers cited about 30 ICE deaths in the administration’s first year but called for independent probes, signaling both concern and uncertainty in public tallies ^[3].

3. Why the totals diverge: scope, timing, and data lags

Discrepancies stem from definitional choices and reporting delays: ICE’s roster covers deaths the agency classifies as “in custody,” while congressional tallies may add Border Patrol station deaths and other DHS custody settings that ICE’s list omits ^{[5] [3]}. Fiscal-year versus calendar-year accounting and slow updates to ICE’s public web pages mean official counts can lag or appear lower than contemporaneous independent tallies ^{[3] [5]}.

4. Independent reporting highlights causes and patterns beyond simple counts

Investigative outlets and advocacy groups have linked the 2025 deaths to overcrowding, medical neglect, frequent transfers, and conditions worsened by a rapid increase in detainee numbers — factors that go beyond a raw death count to explain why more people died that year ^{[1] [6] [4]}. The American Immigration Council and civil‑rights organizations documented cases suggesting delayed medical care and inadequate oversight in multiple deaths, arguing many were preventable ^{[4] [7]}.

5. Oversight erosion and restricted transparency complicate verification

Reporting by Reuters and others documents policy moves that limited internal oversight capacity — including cuts to watchdog staffing and resistance to body cameras — which independent investigators say make it harder to corroborate circumstances and to reconcile official death tallies with on‑the‑ground reports ^[8]. Congressional letters and media compilations note that ICE’s online death logs were not always up to date, further complicating independent verification ^{[3] [5]}.

6. The bottom line and limits of current public evidence

For the narrow, specific question of how many people died in ICE custody during the Trump administration’s second term year 2025, ICE’s official reporting and multiple media tallies converge on 32 deaths ^{[1] [2]}. Independent actors who broaden the frame to include CBP or who account for untallied, later‑reported fatalities produce higher counts — for example, a congressional count of 53 deaths across ICE and CBP since the administration began — and human‑rights bodies have called for independent investigations to resolve discrepancies and examine systemic causes ^[3]. Public sources do not provide a single reconciled, administration‑wide total that all parties accept, and available reporting documents both definitional and reporting‑lag reasons for that absence ^{[3] [5]}.