Which ICE facilities reported the most in‑custody deaths in 2025 and what inspections or findings followed?
Executive summary
In 2025, ICE recorded its deadliest year since 2004 with roughly 31–32 people dying in custody, and reporting and watchdog reviews identify Eloy Federal Contract Facility (Arizona), Krome Service Processing Center (Florida) and Stewart Detention Center (Georgia) as among the facilities that have held the most deaths historically and were focal points in 2025 reporting [1] [2] [3]. Oversight activity fell sharply as the detained population surged: internal Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) inspections plunged even while watchdogs and members of Congress flagged recurring medical, suicide‑prevention and staffing deficiencies at multiple sites [1] [4].
1. Which facilities reported the most in‑custody deaths in 2025 — the shortlist and why those centers matter
Multiple outlets and reviews single out three detention sites — Eloy Federal Contract facility near Phoenix, Krome Service Processing Center in Florida, and Stewart Detention Center in Georgia — as facilities that have historically recorded more detainee deaths and that appear centrally in 2025 mortality reporting and analyses [3]. The Guardian’s year‑end interactive tally and related news coverage documented the spike to the highest annual total since 2004, underscoring why facilities with prior clusters of deaths drew attention in 2025 [2]. Reuters and advocacy reporting emphasized that the overall 2025 total — cited at about 31–32 deaths — made any facility with multiple recent deaths a focus for scrutiny as detention populations rose [5] [1].
2. What inspections or reviews followed those deaths — patterns in oversight and findings
Watchdog reporting shows that formal inspections and published findings decreased even as problems were repeatedly documented; Project On Government Oversight reported a 36.25% drop in detention facility inspections in 2025 while deaths and detentions surged, and it catalogued inspection findings that included failures to properly monitor people at risk of suicide, medical staff not responding appropriately or lacking credentials, failure to report suspected active tuberculosis, and inadequate sanitation such as too few toilets [1]. Congressional offices and civil liberties reviews pointed to prior Office of Professional Responsibility or internal reports finding suicide‑prevention and continuous‑monitoring deficiencies at Stewart, and local inspections or internal reviews found major standard shortfalls at new or reopened facilities such as Camp East Montana (Stewart: [4]; Camp East Montana/internal inspection failures: p1_s5).
3. Agency response, contested explanations and competing narratives
ICE and DHS have publicly asserted commitments to medical screening and humane custody, noting intake screenings and access to 24‑hour emergency care and other procedures, while simultaneously acknowledging investigations into individual deaths (DHS/ICE statements and routine death reporting) [3] [6]. Critics — human‑rights groups, immigration lawyers and some members of Congress — argue the spike in deaths reflects overcrowding, understaffing and reduced oversight as detention numbers grew sharply in 2025, a theme echoed by the American Immigration Council and advocacy reporting that documented severe overcrowding, tent camps and poor conditions at some sites [7] [8] [9]. The two narratives collide over whether rising deaths are due to isolated criminal acts or systemic failures; reporting includes examples of suspected on‑site violence, apparent suicides and medical neglect, but official determinations and investigations were ongoing or incomplete in multiple cases [10] [2] [11].
4. What inspections have not answered and what remains to be audited
While multiple sources document both the mortality spike and inspection shortfalls, gaps remain: national tallies and advocacy reviews identify hotspots but do not uniformly map each 2025 death to post‑mortem inspection reports or corrective‑action outcomes, and ICE’s public Detainee Death Reporting was not fully up to date in late 2025, complicating external tracking [11] [2]. Project On Government Oversight and congressional letters highlight systemic inspection declines and specific facility deficiencies, but public records in many cases do not show whether identified problems were fully remediated after each death — a critical gap for determining whether subsequent inspections produced meaningful fixes [1] [4]. Until comprehensive, timely inspection reports and independent reviews are consistently released for the facilities with the most deaths — notably Eloy, Krome and Stewart — public oversight will rely on piecemeal disclosures, congressional inquiries and investigative reporting [3] [1].