How many people have died in ICE custody since January 2024
Executive summary
From January 2024 through early February 2026, public reporting and government releases show that at least 45 people died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, and depending on which counts are combined the total could be as high as 49; the range exists because independent trackers, ICE’s own releases, and advocacy groups use different definitions and update schedules (ICE reports 11 deaths in 2024, roughly 30–32 in 2025, and 4–6 in the first two weeks of 2026) [1] [2] [3] [4]. ICE’s official death-reporting procedures require public notices and a 90‑day death report but reporting lags and differing inclusion rules mean no single published list captures every fatality contemporaneously [5] [6].
1. The raw numbers and the resulting range
ICE reported 11 deaths occurring in its custody during calendar year 2024, a figure referenced by multiple outlets and databases [1] [7]. Independent media and watchdogs documented a much larger spike in 2025: The Guardian and Project on Government Oversight identified 32 deaths in 2025, while other trackers and ICE’s own public summaries report “at least 30” to 31–32 deaths that year — the highest annual total since 2004 [8] [3] [2]. In the first days of 2026, reporters compiled four deaths between January 3–9 and other sources count as many as six deaths in the first two weeks of January 2026; ICE press releases document additional individual cases in mid‑January [4] [2] [9]. Adding the conservative totals (11 in 2024 + 30 in 2025 + 4 in early 2026) yields at least 45 deaths since January 2024; using the higher 2025 and early‑January 2026 counts produces an upper figure near 49 [1] [3] [2] [4].
2. Why different sources produce different totals
Counting discrepancies arise from three factors in the reporting ecosystem: first, ICE and outside monitors use different definitions of “in custody” (for example, whether to include people released immediately before death or those who die while being transported or in Border Patrol custody) and that affects whether a death is counted as an ICE custody death [6]. Second, ICE’s required public reporting can lag — the agency must issue a press release within two business days and a full report within 90 days, but press‑release aggregation and FOIA limitations create gaps that independent monitors try to fill [5] [6]. Third, advocacy groups and journalists sometimes add names verified from local records, family statements, or court filings that do not yet appear in ICE’s newsroom, producing higher totals such as The Guardian’s 32‑name list for 2025 [8] [3].
3. What the spike and oversight data indicate
Multiple outlets and watchdogs have tied the rise in deaths to a rapid expansion of detention and reduced onsite oversight — inspections fell sharply while detained populations rose, and watchdog reporting flagged overcrowding and medical‑care violations at inspected sites — assertions that appear alongside the death tallies and are documented by Project On Government Oversight, The Guardian and others [3] [8] [7]. The Department of Homeland Security has disputed claims of a spike in the death rate per detainee even as it faces growing congressional scrutiny and demands for documents after record combined ICE/CBP in‑custody deaths in 2025 [7] [10].
4. Caveats, transparency problems and what can’t be concluded from public data
The public record is imperfect: ICE’s definitions, reporting lags, and the practice of releasing some people before death (a pattern litigated by advocates) mean that publicly available tallies likely undercount some deaths connected to immigration enforcement, while differences in inclusion criteria between trackers can inflate comparisons [5] [11]. Reporting reviewed here does not establish cause‑of‑death adjudications for every case nor resolve disputed circumstances in specific incidents; those determinations often await completed investigations and autopsy reports that are not uniformly public [5] [6]. Given those limits, the defensible statement is the range above — at least 45 and plausibly up to about 49 deaths in ICE custody from January 2024 through early February 2026 — with the reminder that precise, final accounting depends on reconciled agency reports and independent verification [1] [8] [4].