How many people died in ICE custody nationwide each year from 2009 to 2017, and what were the documented causes?
Executive summary
From the available public reporting, precise, independently compiled year-by-year counts of deaths in ICE custody for each year 2009–2017 are not fully reproduced in the supplied sources, but official ICE and third‑party reporting make two clear points: fiscal year 2017 saw 12 deaths (the most since 2009) and fiscal year 2016 saw 10 deaths (ICE-reported) [1], and the federal FOIA list of detainee deaths covering 2003–June 5, 2017 exists as the primary government source for exact counts and case‑level causes [2].
1. The numbers that are certain: 2016 and 2017, and the master FOIA list
ICE’s own reporting and press coverage identify 10 in‑custody deaths in FY2016 and 12 in FY2017 — the latter described as “the most since fiscal year 2009” [1] — and the agency’s FOIA release “List of Deaths in ICE Custody Data from: 10/01/2003 to 06/05/2017” is the definitive government file documenting individual deaths and listed causes [2]. The FOIA list is the source researchers use to produce exact annual totals for 2009–2017, but that detailed spreadsheet itself is not reproduced in full among the supplied excerpts, so a year‑by‑year table cannot be verbatim recreated here from the provided material [2].
2. What the recorded causes look like across cases: medical events, withdrawal, suicide, homicide, organ failure
Reported and reviewed cases from this period and adjacent reporting show a range of documented causes: acute cardiac events and cardiomyopathy/cardiac arrest appear repeatedly in facility reports and legal summaries (cardiac arrest, cardiomyopathy) [3] ACLU-DWN-NIJC.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[4]; drug withdrawal and complications from substance dependence have been explicitly cited in recent custodial deaths and media summaries [5]; deaths attributed to liver and kidney failure were noted in individual ICE press releases [6]; suicides and suspected suicidal behavior are reported or cited by ICE in some cases [6]; and at least a small number of deaths have later been ruled homicides after autopsy (as in a high‑profile case reported in 2026) — demonstrating that some fatalities result from violent restraint or alleged custodial force [6] [7].
3. Patterns and assessments from watchdogs and medical reviewers: preventability and system failures
Independent investigations and coalition reports (ACLU, Physicians for Human Rights, American Oversight, Detention Watch Network) reviewed dozens of deaths and concluded that a substantial share were preventable or possibly preventable, often pointing to delayed or inadequate medical and mental‑health care, failures in clinical screening, and problematic practices like solitary confinement that worsened risk [8] [9] [4]. The 2024–2025 joint report analyzed 52 reported deaths between 2017–2021 and found systemic deficiencies in how ICE handles clinical care and death investigations [9].
4. The agency’s stance and the reporting gaps that matter
ICE maintains formal notification and detainee‑death review policies and posts public reports; the agency emphasizes investigations and procedural rules intended to govern death reporting [10]. But multiple watchdogs and past press reporting have documented gaps: deaths sometimes omitted from summaries, and a pattern — acknowledged in earlier disclosures — of detainees being released shortly before death that reduces the official count [11] [8]. Those practices and redactions complicate anyone trying to produce an incontrovertible annual count from only press summaries.
5. What can be said confidently and what remains unresolved
Confident, sourced statements from the supplied material: FY2016 recorded 10 ICE‑reported in‑custody deaths and FY2017 recorded 12, the latter the most since 2009 [1]; a government FOIA list exists covering 2003–June 2017 that enumerates individual deaths and listed causes [2]; independent reviews find many deaths were associated with cardiac events, organ failure, withdrawal, suicide, and in isolated cases homicide or restraint‑related injury [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [9]. What cannot be reconstructed here from the supplied snippets is a complete, cited year‑by‑year numeric table for every year 2009–2017 without quoting the FOIA list directly; researchers should consult the ICE FOIA document [2] and the joint investigative reports [9] [8] for case‑level counts and cause‑of‑death language.