How many people died in ICE custody each year from 2017 to 2025 according to government records?
Executive summary
Available government and investigative records show spotty, sometimes conflicting counts of deaths in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody between 2017 and 2025; public sources confirm specific annual totals for only a few years and give a clear picture that 2025 was the deadliest year in two decades but differ on whether the agency’s own tally is 30, 31 or 32 deaths [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and NGO compilations fill some gaps — for example a 2017–2021 review counted 52 deaths across that five‑year span — but the federal reporting system’s fiscal/calendar-year definitions, inconsistent public disclosures and varying counting rules mean a definitive, year‑by‑year government table is not fully present in the provided records [4] [5].
1. What “according to government records” means and the limits of available data
ICE publishes detainee death reports and states a policy for timely notification and reporting of deaths in custody, but its public reporting is organized by different schedules (fiscal year vs. calendar year) and narrative newsroom posts rather than a single reconciled annual table, which complicates straight yearly comparisons; the agency’s public materials describe the notification process but do not, in the provided sources, offer a single authoritative year-by-year public list for 2017–2025 [6].
2. Year-by-year figures that can be sourced from the available reporting
Based on the supplied sources, 2017 saw at least 10 deaths in ICE custody as reported in public compilations [3], and 2018 had nine reported deaths according to the same compilation [3]. A separate analysis covering 2017–2021 found 52 deaths during that five‑year period, which confirms a substantial toll but does not break out each calendar year in the supplied excerpts [4]. For 2025 the government and press sources converge on a markedly higher total: ICE records and mainstream outlets report at least 30 non‑U.S. citizens died in custody that calendar year, while detailed media compilations and NGO trackers list 32 deaths [5] [1] [2] [7]. Some secondary sources and summaries (including Wikipedia snapshots) show slight variations — for example noting 31 or 32 deaths in 2025 — reflecting differences in counting methods and timing of disclosure [3] [2].
3. Why different sources give different annual totals for the same years
Discrepancies arise because ICE reports deaths by fiscal year in some formal datasets while newsrooms and trackers often use calendar years, ICE’s public newsroom posts may lag or use narrative labels that omit standardized data fields, and watchdogs or journalists sometimes include deaths occurring shortly after release or transfer that advocates argue should be counted as custody deaths; these methodological choices explain why ICE‑centered tallies in supplied sources are described as “at least 30” while media/advocacy reconciliations reach 32 [6] [5] [2] [1].
4. The bottom line answer to the question asked
According to the government‑facing records and the reporting provided: for 2017 the published compilations record at least 10 deaths [3]; for 2018 nine deaths are reported in the same compilation [3]; for 2019–2024 the supplied sources do not present a single, complete government year‑by‑year breakdown in the excerpts provided here [4], and for 2025 ICE records and major reporting show a sharp rise with at least 30 detainee deaths recorded by ICE and multiple media and NGO counts compiling 32 deaths [5] [1] [2]. The existing public record in these sources therefore supports specific government‑facing counts for 2017 (≥10), 2018 and 2025 (≥30 reported by ICE; 32 in several compilations), while admitting that a comprehensive, year‑by‑year government table for every year 2017–2025 is not contained in the materials provided [3] [4] [5].
5. What to watch next (transparency and methodological fixes)
Observers and lawmakers have pointed to gaps in ICE inspections and reporting even as detainee numbers surged in 2025, and requests from congressional offices, watchdogs and NGOs seek the underlying records that would reconcile fiscal/calendar differences and establish a definitive annual tally — a reconciliation not present in the cited excerpts and therefore necessary before any fully authoritative year‑by‑year government count from 2017–2025 can be declared [7] [8] [4].