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How many people have ICE killed
Executive summary
Available sources show that deaths in ICE custody have risen sharply in 2025, with multiple tallies putting FY2025 deaths at between at least 21 and 27 people and media noting this is the deadliest year for ICE detention in decades (e.g., 21–23 reported deaths; American Immigration Council counted at least 23) [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and advocacy groups attribute the increase to overcrowding, poor medical care and mental-health failures, while ICE’s own death-reporting list is the official public record but is supplemented by outside counts and journalistic reporting [4] [5] [6].
1. What the official counts say — ICE’s tally and its limits
ICE maintains a Detainee Death Reporting page that lists deaths the agency has publicly confirmed; that is the foundational official record [4]. Available sources note ICE reported ten deaths in the first half of 2025, according to the agency’s site, but outside tallies indicate higher totals across the fiscal year [7] [4]. Readers should understand that the agency’s public list is authoritative for what ICE has acknowledged, but reporting and advocacy groups often track additional cases, timing differences, and multisource confirmations that ICE’s site may not immediately reflect [4] [3].
2. Independent tallies and journalistic counts — different numbers, same direction
Journalists and immigrant-rights organizations produced higher counts than ICE for FY2025. The American Immigration Council reported at least 23 detainee deaths in FY2025 based on ICE news releases and other sources, and other outlets placed the count in the low-to-mid 20s [3] [2]. AsAmNews and other reporting cited 21 deaths in 2025 in their coverage [1]. The Marshall Project and The Guardian similarly documented a rising death toll and noted the year was on track to be one of the deadliest in recent memory [6] [8].
3. Why the numbers differ — timing, inclusion criteria and context
Differences between counts come from methodological choices: whether a death is counted when ICE posts a press release, when Congress is notified, whether the death occurred while physically in custody or during transport, and whether subsequent outside confirmations are included [3] [7]. Advocacy groups and reporters sometimes include deaths they verify that ICE has not yet tallied publicly; conversely, ICE’s list may lag or apply different classification rules [4] [3].
4. What reporters and advocates say about causes — overcrowding, care failures, suicides and violence
Multiple sources link the spike in 2025 deaths to a sharp increase in the detained population and deteriorating conditions: average monthly detainee counts approaching 60,000 (compared with 18,000–30,000 in prior periods) and facilities operating over capacity, which advocates say exacerbates medical staffing shortages and supervision breakdowns [9] [3] [8]. The American Immigration Council and The Marshall Project point to medical neglect, overcrowding, mental-health crises and isolated incidents of violence (including a shooting at an ICE facility) as factors in recent fatalities [2] [6] [10].
5. Research on preventability — outside findings about systemic medical failures
A report cited by the ACLU and other organizations reviewed deaths from 2017–2021 and concluded a large share of deaths in detention likely could have been prevented with adequate medical care, finding 52 reviewed deaths in that period and saying 95% could likely have been prevented with adequate care [5]. That independent research frames present-year fatalities within a longer history of systemic care problems inside detention facilities [5].
6. Political and institutional responses — oversight, lawsuits and congressional concern
Lawmakers and courts have reacted: senators pressed DHS and ICE for explanations after clusters of 2025 deaths, and a federal judge ordered improvements at specific facilities, reflecting rising oversight pressure [7] [9]. Advocacy groups filed lawsuits and public-health experts testified about care failures, while ICE continues to publish its own death notifications [5] [4].
7. How to interpret “How many people have ICE killed” — evidence, attribution, and limits
The question of “how many people ICE has killed” asks both for counts and for causal responsibility. Available reporting provides tallies of people who died while in ICE custody (generally 21–27 in 2025, depending on the source), but assigning legal or moral responsibility requires case-by-case investigation: some deaths are attributed to medical crises, some to suicide, and at least one to a shooting at a facility — and advocacy reports argue many were preventable due to systemic failures [2] [10] [5]. Official ICE lists document who the agency acknowledges died in custody; outside counts and investigations document broader patterns and raise questions about preventability and institutional responsibility [4] [3] [5].
8. Bottom line and what’s missing from public reporting
Bottom line: reporting and advocacy tallies place FY2025 ICE-custody deaths in the low-to-mid 20s and call 2025 the deadliest year for ICE detainees since the early 2000s [2] [1] [3]. Available sources do not provide a single, definitive number that resolves timing and inclusion disputes; detailed cause-of-death and accountability conclusions often require coroner reports, ICE investigations and independent reviews that are still unfolding in many cases (not found in current reporting).