How many people killed by ice under trump
Executive summary
The clearest, direct figure available from multiple investigative outlets is that 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the deadliest year for the agency in more than two decades (matching 2004) — a statistic reported by The Guardian and echoed in other media reviews of ICE’s public reports [1] [2]. Separately, reporting and compiled lists show a smaller, but important, set of deaths caused by use of force during enforcement operations — sources differ, but Wikipedia and The Guardian tracked multiple agent-involved shootings that resulted in fatalities Trumpadministration" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[3] [2].
1. What “killed by ICE under Trump” most directly means: custody deaths versus agent killings
The phrase can mean (at least) two different things: deaths that occurred while people were in ICE custody (medical, suicide, neglect, or other causes while detained) and deaths directly caused by ICE or federal immigration agents during enforcement (shootings or other use of force). Reporting distinguishes those categories because ICE’s public “detainee death” reports cover the former and media compilations or incident lists cover the latter [4] [2].
2. The custody-death baseline: 32 detainee deaths in 2025
Multiple outlets and NGO trackers report 32 deaths in ICE custody during 2025, a tally that made 2025 the deadliest year for ICE in over 20 years and matched a 2004 record; The Guardian’s investigative timeline lists the 32 deaths by name and circumstance [1] [2]. Reuters and other reporting note the agency was detaining tens of thousands — numbers that contextualize overcrowding and rising fatalities [5] [6].
3. Variations in reporting and fiscal-year tallies
Different trackers and advocacy groups report slightly different counts depending on cutoffs, fiscal-year framing, or whether transfers to hospitals while “in custody” are included: the Immigration Policy Tracking Project and the American Immigration Council cited figures like 23 or other counts for a fiscal-year window, reflecting reporting lags and definitional differences [7] [8]. Reuters and Wikipedia also cite “at least 30” deaths in 2025 in some summaries, illustrating why simple headline numbers can diverge [6] [4].
4. Deaths from enforcement violence: shootings and agent use of force
Independent compilations and press reporting document shootings and agent-involved fatalities distinct from detainee deaths. One Wikipedia list tallied at least 30 shootings by immigration agents since January 20, 2025, resulting in eight deaths, while The Guardian counted multiple shootings and said immigration agents killed four people in a narrower recent window — figures that vary by methodology and source selection [3] [2]. These are separate from the 32 custody deaths and illustrate another category of lethal outcomes tied to immigration enforcement operations.
5. What the numbers do and do not prove, and where accountability gaps lie
The raw totals—32 custody deaths in 2025 and a handful of agent-involved shooting fatalities—show scale but not causality. Reporting and advocates argue overcrowding, medical neglect, and policy choices under the administration contributed to the spike, while ICE and DHS often cite investigations and individual medical determinations; different sources document disputed circumstances in several high-profile cases [8] [5] [9]. Public records and NGO counts exclude Border Patrol custody deaths unless explicitly noted, so total “deaths caused by immigration enforcement” can be higher than ICE-only custody figures [4] [6].
6. Bottom line answer
Using ICE’s and major investigative media’s reporting for the first full year of the second Trump administration, 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 — that is the most defensible single-number answer to “how many people killed by ICE under Trump” when “killed by ICE” is read as deaths in ICE custody — while separately, documented agent violence and shootings during enforcement operations resulted in additional deaths (reported as several fatalities, with at least eight deaths listed in an aggregated shootings list), and broader counts that include Border Patrol and other enforcement actions are subject to differing tallies and reporting lags [1] [2] [3] [6].