How many people died under Trump ICE operations in his first and second term
Executive summary
The available reporting does not produce a single, undisputed tally of people who died under ICE custody during Donald Trump’s first term (2017–2020), and independent researchers and watchdogs give different slices of the record; a Physicians for Human Rights analysis counted 52 ICE-custody deaths across 2017–2021, a period that largely overlaps Trump’s first term [1]. For Trump’s second term (beginning 2025), reporting converges on a sharp spike: 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025, with additional deaths reported in early 2026 and multiple agent-involved shootings that also produced fatalities or are under investigation [2] [3] [4].
1. First term: documented counts are fragmented and contested
Public tallies for deaths in ICE custody during Trump’s first term are fragmentary: a Physicians for Human Rights study referenced in multiple outlets examined 52 deaths in ICE custody from 2017 through 2021, framing that period as overlapping with Trump’s first term and raising questions about preventability in the majority of cases [1]. Government reporting requirements exist—DHS appropriations rules require ICE to report in-custody deaths—but advocacy groups and news outlets have long criticized ICE for gaps, delayed disclosures, and for removing people from custody before death in ways that complicate official counting [5] [1]. In short, an exact, government-verified total for 2017–2020 alone is not available in the provided sources and researchers instead rely on NGO studies and piecemeal public records [1] [5].
2. Second term (2025–present): an unmistakable surge — 32 deaths in 2025
Multiple outlets report that 2025 was ICE’s deadliest year in more than two decades, with 32 people dying in ICE custody over the course of that year as the administration dramatically expanded detentions [2] [6]. The Guardian’s detailed timeline, cited broadly, tabulated 32 deaths in 2025 and linked the surge to record detention levels, overcrowding, and allegations of medical neglect [2]. Advocacy groups and the American Immigration Council also highlighted that 2025’s toll matched or exceeded historical peaks and noted that additional deaths occurred after the fiscal year ended, underscoring ongoing mortality in detention under the second Trump administration [7].
3. Agent-involved shootings and other violent deaths during the second term
Beyond deaths that occur inside detention centers, reporting documents a rise in shootings and agent-involved lethal encounters during Trump’s enforcement operations: aggregated reporting has counted numerous shootings by immigration agents during the second term, with some sources citing 16 incidents of agents shooting at people and separate tallies listing at least 30 agent-involved shootings since January 20, 2025, producing multiple deaths that have sparked protests and investigations [8] [4]. High-profile cases such as the Minneapolis shootings prompted national attention, congressional notifications, and calls for independent investigations [9] [3] [10].
4. Why precise counting is hard: reporting practices, agency behavior and jurisdictional mess
Counting deaths “under ICE operations” is complicated by differences in definitions (in-custody deaths vs. agent-involved killings during operations), by ICE and CBP reporting practices that sometimes exclude people released shortly before death, by overlapping agency roles (ICE, CBP, Border Patrol), and by the lack of a single, transparent federal public dashboard covering all related deaths, which critics and Congress have repeatedly flagged [5] [7] [3]. Independent trackers, advocacy groups, and media investigations have filled some gaps—documenting 32 ICE-custody deaths in 2025 and compiling lists of shootings—but those methods produce different denominators and scopes depending on whether they include field shootings, hospital deaths while under custody, or post-release fatalities [2] [8].
5. Bottom line: what can be stated with confidence
It can be stated with confidence from the provided reporting that independent researchers documented dozens of deaths across the 2017–2021 period (a PHR study counted 52 such deaths across those years) and that 2025—during Trump’s second term—saw a documented surge with 32 deaths in ICE custody, plus additional deaths and agent-involved shootings reported into early 2026 [1] [2] [3]. Precise, comparable totals separating only Trump’s first term (2017–2020) from other years cannot be produced from the supplied sources because of inconsistent agency reporting, differing research windows, and definitional differences; the public record as provided instead points to a clear upward trend in mortality associated with the agency’s expanded enforcement in the second term [5] [7].