Approximately 60 people were killed in custody when Gil Kerlikowske was the CBP commissioner and they deported way more people during his tenure. Not just murderer, gang members, and predators.
Executive summary
The claim that “approximately 60 people were killed in custody when Gil Kerlikowske was the CBP commissioner” cannot be confirmed from the provided reporting: official CBP and oversight documents in the search results show that CBP tracks and publishes death-in-custody and CBP-related death data (including FY2022 totals and FOIA lists) but none of the supplied sources present a clear, sourced tally of roughly 60 deaths specifically during Kerlikowske’s tenure (March 6, 2014–January 20, 2017) [1] [2] [3] [4]. The broader contention that “they deported way more people during his tenure” is consistent with CBP’s role in large-scale apprehensions and transfers, but the documents provided do not include an exact deportation total for that timeframe to substantiate the magnitude claimed [5] [6] [7].
1. Why the numbers are murky: different trackers, different definitions
CBP publishes custody, transfer and death-in-custody data and OPR/FOIA reports that enumerate individual incidents and aggregate categories, but those releases use multiple definitions (in custody, not in custody but CBP‑related, reportable vs not reportable) that make a simple count across sources difficult without a single cross-checked dataset [1] [2] [3]. Independent compilations such as the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) list and advocacy trackers like the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) also catalogue deaths using broader “fatal encounter” definitions that include vehicle collisions and post‑encounter medical emergencies, producing larger tallies than CBP’s narrower reportable categories [8] [9].
2. What the official records say in the excerpts provided
The CBP material in the search results includes death-in-custody releases and a FY2022 OPR figure of 171 CBP-related deaths that were reviewed across several categories, illustrating CBP’s ongoing reporting effort but not producing a clear year-by-year count for 2014–2017 in the snippets provided [1] [2] [3]. The DHS OIG report referenced the deaths reviewed for FY2021 and indicates oversight reviews occur, but the OIG excerpt here covers more recent fiscal years and specific small-sample reviews (five CBP deaths reviewed in FY2021) rather than the entirety of 2014–2017 [10] [11].
3. What advocacy and watchdog groups report
Advocacy groups and independent trackers compile broader sets of incidents — SBCC’s fatal‑encounters database, for example, counts deaths that occur during or shortly after Border Patrol contact and includes vehicle‑chase collisions and failures to provide adequate medical attention, which inflates totals relative to CBP’s narrower “in custody” reports; SBCC’s methodology and higher counts reflect a distinct agenda: to highlight mortality tied to enforcement tactics [9]. AILA similarly maintains an updated list of CBP press releases and media accounts of deaths, serving as a consolidated source but not an official reconciled total [8].
4. Deportations and enforcement volume during Kerlikowske’s term
CBP’s custody-and-transfer dashboards and annual statistics show CBP conducts millions of enforcement actions in a given period and that appraisal of “more deportations” requires consulting those custody/transfer metrics for the exact years; the snippets affirm CBP publishes apprehension and transfer metrics but the provided search results do not include a clear deportation count for 2014–2017 to support the specific “way more people” phrasing [5] [6] [7]. Former Commissioner Kerlikowske’s biography and tenure dates are documented in public records and media profiles, but the supplied sources do not connect his leadership explicitly to a quantified spike in deportations in these excerpts [4].
5. Bottom line and what’s needed to verify the claim
The assembled sources show that deaths in CBP custody and CBP-related deaths are tracked by CBP, OPR, OIG and independent advocates, and that counts differ by definition and methodology — but the specific figure “approximately 60 deaths during Kerlikowske’s tenure” is not corroborated by the supplied documents and cannot be treated as verified without a reconciled dataset covering March 2014–January 2017 from CBP/OPR or an independent audited tally [1] [2] [8] [9]. To settle the claim authoritatively would require cross-referencing CBP FOIA/OPR death reports for CY/FY 2014–2016, DHS OIG reviews for those years, and independent trackers to reconcile definitions and duplicate reporting [11] [3]. The available reporting also makes clear that advocacy groups and CBP have different agendas — accountability and oversight versus institutional contextualization — which explains divergent tallies [8] [9].