How many ICE detention facilities have reported deaths in 2025?
Executive summary
Multiple reputable outlets report that 2025 was the deadliest year for people in ICE custody in two decades, with counts clustering around 30–32 deaths; however, the available reporting and public records in the provided sources do not supply a clear, compiled count of how many distinct ICE detention facilities reported at least one death in 2025, so an exact facility tally cannot be confirmed from these documents [1][2][3][4].
1. The headline numbers — deaths, not facilities
News organizations and watchdogs consistently place the total number of people who died in ICE custody in 2025 between about 30 and 32, with The Guardian and Project On Government Oversight citing 32 deaths and Reuters reporting “at least 30” as of mid-December 2025, reflecting slightly different snapshots and updates across media outlets [1][2][3]. Wikipedia’s curated list (likely drawing on ICE notices and media reports) lists 31 deaths for 2025 as of January 25, 2026, underscoring that counts shifted as the year closed and agencies published notices [4]. Those totals are central to reporting but do not answer how many separate facilities experienced a death.
2. Scattered beds, scattered reporting: names that appear in coverage
Reporting names several specific facilities where deaths occurred — for example, Fort Bliss/Camp East Montana in Texas, Eloy Detention Center and Florence in Arizona, Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, Imperial Regional Detention Facility in California, Joe Corley Processing Center in Texas, Delaney Hall in New Jersey, Robert A. Deyton Detention Center in Georgia, and the Krome Service Processing Center in Florida — showing that fatalities were distributed across both long‑running and newly expanded sites [5][1][6][7][8]. These citations demonstrate geographic breadth but do not add up to a definitive count of unique facilities because sources highlight particular cases rather than providing a consolidated facility list [5][1][6].
3. Why an exact facility count is elusive in the sources
ICE publishes individual detainee death notices and advocates compile lists, but the articles and analyses provided focus on aggregate death totals, conditions, and high‑profile cases rather than producing a one‑line statistic for “number of detention facilities that reported deaths in 2025” [6][2]. Media pieces cite agency notices and interviews, watchdogs analyze inspection frequency and systemic risk, and compilations like Wikipedia synthesize incidents — none of the provided items deliver a clean facility‑count metric within this set of documents [2][4][8].
4. Divergent agendas and the implication for counting
Advocacy outlets and congressional statements emphasize systemic failure and an expanded detention footprint as explanatory frames, linking the wave of deaths to overcrowding and inspection dropoffs [8][2][9], while ICE statements stress procedural safeguards and ongoing investigations in individual cases [6]. Those opposing narratives affect which data points are spotlighted — watchdogs and lawmakers cite facility reopening and rising bed counts alongside death totals, which pushes coverage toward systemic analysis rather than a facility‑by‑facility ledger [2][9].
5. What can be stated confidently from the provided reporting
From the supplied reporting it is certain that dozens of people died in ICE custody in 2025 (summary counts ~30–32) and that those deaths occurred across multiple, geographically dispersed detention sites including both longstanding facilities and newly used sites such as Camp East Montana [1][2][3][5]. What cannot be stated from these particular sources is an authoritative, single‑number answer to “how many ICE detention facilities reported deaths in 2025” because the sources lack a consolidated facility count or an ICE‑published summary of distinct facility locations tied to each death within this dataset [4][6].
6. How to get the missing number (next steps researchers should take)
A definitive facility tally would require compiling every ICE detainee death notice from the agency’s Detainee Death Reporting page and cross‑referencing facility names, or using a vetted dataset that explicitly lists facility locations per death — an aggregation not present in the documents provided here [6][4]. Given the variation in media snapshot counts and the absence of a single-source facility list in these materials, precise facility counting remains a follow‑up task rather than a conclusion supported by the supplied reporting [3][1].