How many people have died because of ICE under Trump?
Executive summary
The clearest, contemporaneous count from reputable reporting is that 32 people died while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in 2025, making that year the deadliest for ICE in more than two decades [1] [2]. In the first ten days of 2026, federal notices recorded four more in-custody deaths, but attributing deaths “because of ICE” requires separating deaths that occurred under custody from determinations of cause and responsibility, which remain contested or under investigation in many cases [3] [4].
1. The raw tally: 32 deaths in ICE custody in 2025, plus early 2026 fatalities
Multiple major outlets and NGO trackers converged on the figure of 32 detainee deaths in ICE custody for calendar year 2025, a total described as the highest in over 20 years and matching a prior 2004 record (The Guardian; Reuters; American Immigration Council) [1] [5] [6]. Government press releases and reporting show at least four additional in-custody deaths in the first ten days of January 2026, bringing immediate post‑2025 totals higher and keeping scrutiny intense [3] [7].
2. Causation vs. custody: why “died because of ICE” is not the same as “died in ICE custody”
Reporting distinguishes deaths that occurred while a person was under ICE custody from legal or medical findings that directly attribute culpability to ICE actions or neglect; in many instances ICE has said deaths followed medical emergencies or natural causes, and several deaths remain under investigation with official causes not yet finalized [1] [5]. Advocacy groups, family members and some local medical examiners, however, allege neglect, delayed care, or abusive restraint in specific cases — for example, at least one death at a Trump-era detention camp was later ruled a homicide by a county medical examiner, a determination that points to agency conduct as a proximate cause in at least that case [8].
3. Patterns and context offered by watchdogs and advocates
Advocates and policy groups argue the spike in deaths is linked to a rapid expansion of detention, overcrowding, reduced releases on humanitarian grounds, and curtailed oversight under the Trump administration — claims documented in NGO reports and congressional letters noting rising deaths and systemic problems in care and transparency (American Immigration Council; Detention Watch Network; congressional correspondence) [9] [10] [11]. The American Immigration Council stated that more people died in ICE detention in 2025 than in the prior four years combined, framing the toll as a product of policy changes and operational strain [9].
4. ICE and official positions: investigations, shifting accounts, and statistics
ICE has publicly posted detainee death notices and said many cases are subject to ongoing probes while asserting it strives for safe, humane custody; some individual cases prompted shifting federal accounts and official investigations, which complicate immediate assignment of responsibility [1] [4]. Journalistic reconstructions noted that some deaths occurred after transfers to hospitals or during transport — circumstances that legally remain “in custody” but where medical cause and institutional responsibility require coroners’ findings and administrative reports to resolve [1] [5].
5. What reporting cannot yet tell readers: scope, final findings, and longitudinal totals
Available sources reliably document the 32 deaths in 2025 and additional early‑2026 fatalities, and they present accusations and initial medical-examiner findings in specific cases; what they do not yet deliver is a full, adjudicated accounting attributing each death to ICE policy, negligence, or individual misconduct across the administration’s entire tenure, nor a definitive total of deaths “because of ICE” over the whole Trump term beyond the 2025 spike [1] [12] [9]. Independent trackers and lawmakers continue to press for exhaustive public reporting and for Congress and coroners to complete inquiries into disputed cases [11] [12].