How many people have ICE directly killed under the Trump administration?
Executive summary
A precise, authoritative tally of how many people Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "directly killed" under the Trump administration cannot be produced from the reporting provided; there are multiple documented fatal uses of force by immigration agents and a much larger number of deaths that occurred while people were in ICE custody in 2025, but the sources distinguish between deaths caused by agent violence and deaths that occurred under custody for other reasons (medical, suicide, alleged neglect) [1] [2] [3]. What can be stated with confidence from the available reporting is that fatal shootings by federal immigration agents have resulted in several deaths, and that 2025 saw a record-high number of deaths in ICE custody [1] [2] [3].
1. Documented fatal shootings by immigration agents — the minimum confirmed count
Reporting compiled by news outlets and trackers shows at least 16 shooting incidents by immigration agents in the period surveyed, and The Trace’s analysis—cited by WCVB—places the number of deadly shootings by immigration officials at four fatalities as of early January 2026, a conservative minimum for deaths caused by agents firing weapons in enforcement operations [1]. Independent accounts and wire reports highlight a high-profile case in Minneapolis in which an ICE officer shot and killed a motorist, which was characterized by local officials as reckless and became one of the deaths tied directly to enforcement operations [4] [1].
2. Deaths in custody are far larger in number but not uniformly “direct killings”
ICE’s own reporting and multiple news investigations record that 32 people died in ICE custody during 2025, making it the agency’s deadliest year in more than two decades; these in-custody deaths include people who died in detention centers, in field offices, or after being transferred to hospitals while still under ICE guard [3] [2]. Those 32 deaths include deaths attributed by officials to medical distress, suicide, drug withdrawal and other causes, and advocates and families have alleged medical neglect in some cases—but those deaths are not the same as documented, intentional lethal force by ICE officers on the street [3] [5].
3. Some custody deaths have later been reclassified or called homicides by examiners
Reporting by Reuters and others shows cases where the department initially described a detainee death one way and local medical examiners later indicated findings inconsistent with the official account; Reuters notes at least one detention death that DHS called an attempted suicide but a county medical examiner later suggested was a homicide [6]. Those reclassifications mean that a subset of in-custody deaths may ultimately be determined to be the result of staff action or neglect, but the reporting does not provide a comprehensive, final number of such determinations for the period [6].
4. Official claims and advocates’ tallies diverge — accountability and data gaps
DHS and ICE issue summaries and defender narratives highlighting policies and medical care; DHS has emphasized enforcement gains and characterizations of dangerous offenders [7]. Civil‑society groups and watchdogs point to overcrowding, limited medical care, and systemic failures that contributed to the spike in deaths and argue the administration’s detention surge inevitably increased fatalities [5] [8]. Meanwhile data compilers like The Trace, The Guardian and Reuters flag underreporting and inconsistent public disclosure, meaning any count of deaths "directly" caused by ICE actions is likely an undercount if relying solely on public statements [2] [1] [9].
5. Bottom line: what the evidence supports and what remains unknown
Based on the sources provided, the minimum number of people killed by immigration agents’ use of firearms during the referenced enforcement surge is at least four fatalities tied to shooting incidents, with additional high-profile cases and at least one detention death later described by a medical examiner as a homicide—placing confirmed agent-caused killings at a small, but nonzero, number while 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 under circumstances that include illness, alleged neglect, suicide and contested uses of force [1] [4] [6] [3]. The exact total of people "directly killed" by ICE personnel during the Trump administration cannot be reliably stated from the available reporting because of incomplete reporting, differing definitions (shootings vs. in-custody deaths vs. homicide rulings), ongoing investigations, and potential undercounting by official channels [1] [6] [3].