Fact check: How many ICE agents have been killed in the line of duty since the agency's inception?

1. A Direct Claim: One Source Lists 166 Fallen Agents — What That Means

One provided document asserts a specific total: 166 ICE agents killed in the line of duty since 1915, and includes individual names, titles, dates, and circumstances; this source is dated April 22, 2025 and presents a clear numeric claim ^[1]. That presentation gives the strongest direct answer to the original question among the materials supplied and is explicit about scope and detail. However, the existence of other official lists that stop short of offering a consolidated total weakens the appearance of a single, universally accepted figure. Readers should note that a numeric total on a memorial page can reflect definitional choices about which personnel and causes are included, and the source itself is the only document among the provided set that explicitly states the sum ^[1].

2. The Broader Record: Lists with Causes, Dates, and Ambiguities

Multiple pages—government memorial pages and the Officer Down Memorial Page—compile individual records of ICE and predecessor-agency personnel who died in the line of duty, including deaths attributed to 9/11-related illnesses, COVID-19, duty accidents, and other causes ^{[2] [3] [1]}. These compilations are valuable because they list names and contexts, but several of them do not present a single aggregate number; they emphasize individual remembrance over statistical summary. The absence of a unified total across these documents introduces ambiguity for anyone seeking a concise count, even though the underlying incident-level data appears to exist across the memorials ^{[2] [3]}.

3. Temporal and Source Differences: Why Counts Diverge

The documents span publication dates from 2019 through May 2025, and some emphasize specific periods such as 2003–2019 safety estimates while others provide long-range memorial lists dating back to the early 20th century ^{[4] [3]}. Differences in publication date and scope create plausible reasons for divergent totals: newer memorial pages may add recently recognized deaths (for example, COVID-19-related deaths recognized later), while older analyses focused on annualized risk rather than cumulative counts ^{[4] [3]}. The presence of both single-number claims and list-only records across 2019–2025 sources explains why one source can state 166 while others avoid an explicit tally ^{[1] [2]}.

4. Competing Emphases: Commemoration Versus Statistical Reporting

The memorial-oriented sites prioritize honoring individual officers and presenting cause-of-death narrative details; they are not primarily statistical bureaus. This difference in mission affects presentation: an official ICE Fallen Officers page or ODMP entry will list names and circumstances and may or may not provide a summarized total, while analytic pieces estimate death rates or compare occupational risk without producing long-range cumulative totals ^{[2] [4]}. That divergence should alert users that a single number depends on editorial and methodological choices—what year constitutes “inception,” whether predecessor agency deaths are included, and whether duty-related illnesses like 9/11 or COVID-19 are counted as line-of-duty deaths ^{[4] [1]}.

5. Bottom Line and What to Watch For Next

Using only the supplied documents, the most direct answer is the April 22, 2025 source that states 166 ICE agents have been killed in the line of duty since 1915, but corroboration across other memorial pages is partial because those pages list incidents without always offering a consolidated sum ^{[1] [2] [3]}. For a definitive, contemporary figure beyond these materials, a reader should check the latest official ICE Fallen Officers roster and cross-check with independent memorial databases for additions or definitional clarifications—particularly for deaths recognized retrospectively or tied to long-latency illnesses such as 9/11-related conditions and COVID-19, which have been added to memorial rolls over time ^{[2] [3]}.