How many ICE detainee deaths occurred under the Biden administration and how do they compare?

1. What the numbers in the reporting actually say

Several reputable trackers and news outlets converge on the same basic contrast: the Biden years recorded a relatively small number of detainee deaths (commonly reported as in the mid‑20s total), while 2025 was the deadliest year for ICE detainees in roughly two decades, with reporting putting the 2025 toll at about 30–32 deaths ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Migration Policy and others note that at least 23 deaths were tallied in FY2025 by one count, and multiple outlets report “at least 30” or “32” deaths for calendar year 2025, reflecting slightly different methods of counting and timing of official releases ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

2. How the comparison is framed in sources and why counts differ

The simplest comparison offered repeatedly in the coverage is that 2025’s tally exceeded the sum of deaths during the Biden administration; that framing appears across independent reporting and advocacy tallies ^{[2] [4]}. Differences in the exact numbers arise because reporters, NGOs and ICE use different cutoffs (fiscal vs. calendar year), some counts include only deaths explicitly reported on ICE news releases while others include FOIA‑obtained records, and Border Patrol versus ICE custody distinctions further complicate totals ^{[1] [5] [6]}.

3. Context and causes cited by outlets

Reporting identifies a cluster of causes cited in official statements and investigations—infectious disease, chronic‑illness crises, overdose/withdrawal and suicide—while journalists and advocates tie the rise to rapid detention expansion, overcrowding and strained medical oversight as detention populations surged under the subsequent administration ^{[7] [8] [9]}. ICE’s own detainee‑death reporting protocol is public and promises reviews and notifications, but journalists and advocates argue that oversight, staffing and transparency have not kept pace with soaring detention numbers ^{[5] [9]}.

4. Alternative viewpoints and institutional defenses

ICE and DHS point to procedural safeguards, internal investigations and ongoing reviews in response to each death, and the agency’s public death‑reporting page documents notification and review processes dating to FY2018 ^[5]. Critics counter that the reported procedural steps have not prevented avoidable deaths and that accountability is weak; advocacy groups and church groups have publicly expressed alarm and called for reduced detention and more community alternatives ^{[9] [8]}.

5. What remains unclear and why precision is limited

Public reporting is explicit about the headline contrast but inconsistent on exact totals: some outlets cite “about 30,” others 32, while NGO tallies put Biden‑era totals at roughly 24 across multiple years—differences driven by calendar vs fiscal accounting, whether Border Patrol deaths are included, and delays or redactions in official releases ^{[2] [3] [1] [6]}. ICE maintains a public detainee‑death page and FOIA materials that provide details for independent verification, but those records are scattered and sometimes narrative‑styled, complicating straightforward aggregation ^{[5] [6]}.

6. Bottom line — direct answer

Based on available reporting: the Biden administration years saw roughly two dozen deaths in ICE custody (commonly cited as about 24 across the prior four years), while 2025 alone recorded a substantially larger toll—about 30 to 32 detainee deaths—making 2025 deadlier than the entire Biden period combined, according to news outlets and independent tallies ^{[1] [2] [3]}. The precise headline numbers vary by source and counting method, and ICE’s published datasets and FOIA documents are the primary place to reconcile those differences ^{[5] [6]}.