How do assault and fatality rates for ICE and Border Patrol compare to local police departments over the past five years?
Executive summary
Across the past five years the public record shows two conflicting patterns: ICE and Border Patrol (CBP) have had a sharp increase in deaths in custody and high‑profile fatal shootings in 2025–2026, even as analyses of officer fatality rates show uniformed local police have historically had higher on‑the‑job death rates than immigration agents; however, comparability is limited because agencies count and publish use‑of‑force and assault data differently and oversight is uneven [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. The headline numbers: custody deaths and recent fatal shootings
Reporting and datasets compiled by news organizations and watchdogs document a surge in deaths tied to ICE custody and federal immigration enforcement in 2025 — The Guardian documented 32 deaths in ICE custody that year as detention volumes rose, and multiple outlets reported several fatal officer‑involved shootings by ICE and Border Patrol in late 2025 and early 2026 [1] [2] [5].
2. What federal internal data and watchdogs reveal about use of force versus assaults
CBP and Border Patrol public statistics and POGO’s analysis show an agency pattern where use‑of‑force incidents are often more numerous than recorded assaults on agents — POGO found about twice as many use‑of‑force incidents as assaults nationwide in recent fiscal years and in one sector (El Centro) agents reported using force more than three times as often as they reported being assaulted, a signal that use‑of‑force is occurring at rates not explained by defensive response alone [4] [6].
3. How that compares to local police reporting and officer fatality rates
Analysts point out that officer fatality rates — deaths of officers in the line of duty — have typically been higher for state and local police than for ICE/Border Patrol; a Cato analysis noted that in 2025 non‑immigration law enforcement officers had a death rate multiple times higher than immigration enforcement officers, and historically police death rates exceeded Border Patrol/ICE since 2003 [3]. That metric, however, measures risk to officers, not civilian assaults by or fatalities caused by officers.
4. Civilian harm and accountability: different stories in different datasets
Independent investigations (The Trace, ProPublica) and press reporting show significant numbers of shootings, injuries and controversial tactics by ICE and Border Patrol that in aggregate resemble or exceed local police problematic use‑of‑force in certain periods; The Trace documented dozens of ICE shootings from 2015–2021 including 23 fatalities, and ProPublica reported hundreds of potentially dangerous uses of tactics such as chokeholds by federal immigration officers in the past year, indicating civilian harms that are notable even relative to widespread scrutiny of municipal police [7] [8].
5. Why direct comparisons are hard and what the reporting omits
A straight apples‑to‑apples comparison is impeded by divergent definitions, reporting requirements and oversight: local police departments generally report under state/federal guidelines and are subject to more municipal criminal prosecutions, while ICE/CBP maintain less transparent internal logs and federal civil‑service rules, producing patchy public counts of assaults on agents, use‑of‑force incidents and disciplinary outcomes — watchdogs and newsrooms explicitly flag gaps and limited access to agency records [4] [6] [7].
6. Competing narratives and institutional incentives
The agencies emphasize officer safety and point to lower officer fatality rates to justify aggressive operations, while watchdogs and advocacy groups emphasize rising detainee deaths, lethal encounters in the interior, and weak accountability — state attorneys general and city officials have launched monitoring efforts and public portals in response to high‑profile incidents, underscoring a political contest over oversight and public perception [3] [9] [10].
7. Bottom line for the past five years
In sum: measures of officer fatality show local police historically face higher on‑duty death rates than ICE/Border Patrol, but multiple independent investigations and recent reporting document a meaningful and growing toll of detainee deaths, federal officer shootings, and use‑of‑force incidents by ICE/CBP in 2025–early 2026; because of inconsistent definitions, under‑reporting and varying oversight, definitive comparative assault and civilian‑fatality rates between federal immigration agents and local police cannot be stated from public sources alone [3] [1] [2] [4] [7].