Has ICE killed anyone in custody

1. Deaths in custody: the basic facts

ICE and independent reporters confirm that people have died while detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE publishes death notices and a detainee-death reporting policy explaining how facilities must notify supervisors and the public after a death ^{[2] [5]}. Journalistic tallies — including NPR and POLITICO — report at least 20 detainee deaths in the 2025 fiscal year, a figure that advocacy groups and outlets have echoed ^{[1] [6]}.

2. How many died, and how does that compare historically?

Reporting indicates 2025 saw a sharp increase: NPR’s review counted at least 20 deaths through much of the year, and outlets described 2025 as the deadliest year for ICE detainees in decades, comparable to or exceeding counts from the 2000s and the COVID-19 peak in 2020 ^{[1] [7]}. The American Immigration Council and other trackers say the 2025 toll made it the deadliest since 2004 ^[3].

3. Causes and categories of death reported so far

News accounts list a range of medical causes and circumstances: tuberculosis, strokes, respiratory failure, seizures, and multiple apparent suicides have been reported among detainee deaths in 2025. Some deaths occurred in facilities, others during transport or following hospital transfers ^{[8] [4] [9]}.

4. What ICE says it does after a death

ICE’s public guidance says local Field Office Directors must report any detainee death within 12 hours and that the agency follows “multilayered, interagency” notification and review protocols; ICE posts news releases with details within two business days and must make full reports public under congressional requirements ^{[5] [2]}.

5. Oversight, staffing and accountability concerns

Journalists and advocates argue oversight has weakened and staffing cuts at oversight offices may be contributing to missed problems; NPR and OPB cite concerns that reductions in the Department of Homeland Security’s oversight capacity and ICE detention oversight offices could correlate with rising deaths ^{[1] [8]}. POLITICO reports ICE is hiring more health workers amid lawsuits and rising deaths — a signal that the agency acknowledges medical staffing shortfalls ^[6].

6. Advocates’ findings and criticisms

The ACLU and other groups have documented historically preventable deaths in ICE custody — an earlier ACLU study covering 2017–2021 concluded many deaths could have been avoided with adequate care ^[10]. The American Immigration Council and media outlets tie the 2025 spike to overcrowding, poor conditions and alleged medical neglect ^{[3] [4]}.

7. Political and legal reactions

Senators and state officials pressed the administration for answers: Georgia Senators Ossoff and Warnock publicly demanded information after multiple deaths and cited ICE records showing an elevated number of deaths in the first half of 2025 ^{[11] [12]}. Courts and plaintiffs have also filed suits over conditions at detention centers, and a federal judge ordered improvements at one facility mentioned in reporting ^[4].

8. Limits of current reporting and open questions

Available sources document the occurrence and number range of in-custody deaths and list several causes, but they do not provide a complete, independently verified root-cause analysis for each death in the public reporting sampled here; systematic autopsy findings, full investigative reports, or a consolidated government accounting for every case are not fully reproduced in these stories ^{[1] [5]}. Some outlets note ICE’s official tallies can lag or differ from independent trackers ^{[4] [13]}.

9. How to follow developments and verify individual cases

To verify specific deaths, consult ICE’s Detainee Death Reporting and newsroom for agency notices and the congressional-mandated reports; independent tallies and investigative reporting from NPR, POLITICO, The Guardian, and immigrant-rights organizations provide contemporaneous counts and context ^{[5] [1] [6] [14]}. When assessing claims about preventability or culpability, rely on official investigations, autopsies and court filings cited in reporting rather than initial summaries alone ^{[10] [4]}.

Bottom line: multiple, contemporaneous news organizations and ICE itself report that people have died in ICE custody in 2025, with journalistic tallies putting the number at about 20 (and various trackers and outlets reporting slightly different totals); reporting attributes the spike to higher detention populations, medical-staffing problems, oversight cuts and facility conditions, while ICE emphasizes its notification and review procedures ^{[1] [3] [5]}.