How do FOIA-based NGO counts of detention deaths compare with ICE’s official lists for each presidential administration since 2003?
Executive summary
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)–based tallies compiled by NGOs and researchers repeatedly reveal counts and case details that differ from or precede ICE’s own public lists, especially when broken down by administration; FOIA-driven projects have produced administration-specific totals (for example, 56 deaths counted during the Obama years) while ICE’s public figures are typically presented as cumulative totals and released unevenly [1] [2]. The differences arise from definitional choices, timing, redactions and ICE’s bureaucratic reporting practices, and available reporting does not allow a fully precise, side‑by‑side per‑administration reconciliation going back to 2003 ACLU-DWN-NIJC.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[3] [4].
1. FOIA-based NGO tallies: targeted, file‑level reconstruction
Investigative FOIA work by advocacy groups and researchers has produced administration‑specific totals by assembling death‑review files, release records and contemporaneous reporting; for example, the ACLU/Detention Watch Network/National Immigrant Justice Center’s Fatal Neglect project used FOIA documents to count 56 deaths in ICE custody during the Obama administration and identified multiple cases where medical lapses appeared to contribute to death [1] [3]. The Global Detention Project similarly aggregates records and reported 107 deaths between October 2003 and January 2010 and reiterates the 56‑death figure for the Obama period in its synthesis, underscoring that NGOs can and do disaggregate by timeframe when records permit [5].
2. ICE’s public lists: cumulative, curated, and administratively framed
ICE posts detainee death reviews and maintains a detainee death reporting page that emphasizes policy and process, and the agency says prior death review documents produced via FOIA are posted in its FOIA library — but the agency’s presentation tends to be cumulative and focused on agency reviews rather than third‑party reconstructions [2]. At times ICE public statements have been summarized in media and congressional reporting as cumulative totals — for instance, press reporting has cited ICE records saying 159 people had died in ICE custody since October 2003 (a cumulative figure quoted in coverage) — but that number reflects the way ICE and intermediaries report totals rather than an NGO’s FOIA‑driven disaggregation by administration [1].
3. Where counts diverge and why: definitions, timing, and access barriers
Differences between FOIA‑based NGO counts and ICE’s listings stem from several concrete factors visible in the reporting: NGOs working from FOIA can include deaths that occurred in hospitals while still under ICE custody or count cases released publicly by local coroners and news outlets that ICE has not yet posted; ICE’s official lists may lag, redact, or structure data around review reports rather than raw death events, and FOIA itself is “unnecessarily time‑consuming and expensive,” limiting immediate completeness [3] [6] [2]. Researchers also note definitional disputes — for example whether to include people who died after transfer but while technically under ICE custody — which changes per‑administration totals [5] [4].
4. Recent spikes illustrate reporting tensions but not neat political attribution
Reporting for 2025 and early 2026 documents a sharp increase in recorded deaths and public scrutiny — The Guardian and other outlets reported 31–32 deaths in 2025, a figure that matched earlier peaks and drew FOIA and litigation activity by watchdogs seeking more documents — illustrating how media, NGOs and ICE lists can leapfrog each other as incidents are disclosed and litigated [7] [8]. That media‑reported spike shows why a simple per‑administration table produced from ICE’s public pages will often undercount or lag the FOIA reconstructions NGOs publish when they obtain files and death reviews [7] [1].
5. What can and cannot be concluded from available reporting
Available sources demonstrate consistently that FOIA‑based NGO counts provide crucial additional detail, sometimes producing larger or more administratively granular tallies (notably the 56 deaths attributed to the Obama era by NGO FOIA work), while ICE’s official outputs remain the agency’s authoritative, but administratively framed and occasionally delayed, record [1] [2] [5]. However, a definitive, fully reconciled per‑presidential‑administration table from 2003 onward is not present in the supplied reporting: public FOIA reconstructions cover significant stretches (and sometimes overlapping windows), and ICE’s public pages and media aggregates provide cumulative and periodic snapshots, but the sources do not together supply a single, fully harmonized per‑administration breakdown [3] [6] [4].