How many people have died in ICE custody during the trump administration
Executive summary
A review of the available reporting shows at least 32 people died in ICE custody in calendar year 2025 — the deadliest year for the agency since 2004 — and congressional and watchdog counts indicate 36 deaths were reported during President Trump’s first term, meaning a straightforward addition of those two official counts yields at least 68 ICE-custody deaths across both Trump administrations through the end of 2025 [1] [2]. This total is a conservative aggregation of disparate official tallies and media compilations; major caveats about differing reporting windows, agency definitions and incomplete public documentation mean the true figure could differ [3] [2].
1. What the question actually asks and how it’s being interpreted
The phrase “during the Trump administration” can mean either Trump’s first term (2017–2020), his second term that began in 2025, or both combined; reporting provided by news outlets and members of Congress treats these periods differently, so any honest answer must state which window is being counted and disclose methodological limits [2] [3].
2. The direct, sourced answer: the minimum, documented count
Media investigations and ICE’s own public reporting document 32 deaths in ICE custody in 2025 — a two‑decade high for the agency — and House Democrats quoted ICE’s public reporting of 36 detainee deaths during Trump’s first term, producing a combined, conservative total of at least 68 ICE-custody deaths across both Trump administrations through calendar year 2025 [1] [2].
3. Where those numbers come from — sources and official tallies
The Guardian and other press organizations compiled and reported that 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025, noting deaths inside facilities and after hospital transfers while still under ICE custody [1] [4]. Separately, a letter from Representatives cited that 36 detainee deaths occurred during Trump’s first term as a point of comparison to 2025’s deaths, which is the basis for the first-term figure referenced by congressional Democrats [2].
4. Why counts vary and why any single number is provisional
Public records use different timeframes (calendar year vs. fiscal year vs. “since inauguration”), and ICE, watchdogs and newsrooms sometimes include or exclude deaths that occurred after release, deaths in Border Patrol custody, or deaths at contracted facilities — creating non‑identical tallies [3] [1]. Congress and NGOs have also flagged ICE reporting delays and narrative framing changes that complicate independent verification [3] [2].
5. Wider context and competing interpretations
Advocates and oversight groups argue the rising totals reflect overcrowding, inadequate medical care and policy choices that increased detention populations under the 2025 enforcement push, while ICE spokespeople emphasize longstanding commitments to medical care and stress that death rates remain “low” on a per-capita basis — a claim reported without the underlying data in the ICE statement cited by press [1] [5]. Congressional Democrats and some senators have demanded documents and investigations, indicating political and oversight pressures that shape both reporting and interpretation [2] [6].
6. What remains unclear and why further digging matters
Public reporting gives a defensible minimum (32 in 2025; 36 in the first term), but it does not produce a single authoritative ledger that reconciles FY versus calendar-year counts, Border Patrol vs. ICE custody deaths, or deaths of people released shortly before dying — gaps that keep the exact total open to revision as oversight reports, Inspector General findings, and ICE’s own mandated Detainee Death Reports are updated [3] [2]. Until those reconciliations are publicly compiled, the best-supported statement is the conservative sum of documented counts: at least 68 ICE-custody deaths across the Trump administrations through the end of 2025, subject to the documented caveats above [1] [2].