How many people died in ICE custody during the Trump administration, and how do rates compare to Obama-era figures?
Executive summary
The second Trump administration saw at least 32 people die in ICE custody in 2025, a toll that matched the agency’s deadliest year on record and made 2025 the highest‑mortality year in two decades [1]. By contrast, the Obama administration recorded 56 deaths in ICE custody across 2009–2017, with public analyses calculating lower or comparable per‑100,000 detainee death rates depending on the denominator and years used [2] [3] [4].
1. The raw counts: 32 in 2025 versus 56 across Obama’s two terms
ICE deaths reported in 2025 totaled 32 — a figure highlighted by major outlets and human‑rights groups as the deadliest single year since 2004 and explicitly tied to the Trump administration’s surge in detentions that year [1]. For the Obama presidency, several independent reports and NGO reviews cite 56 individuals who died in ICE custody across 2009–2017, a number frequently referenced in audits and advocacy literature about detention reform [2] [4].
2. Rates matter — but denominators are inconsistent and contested
Simple comparisons of raw deaths can mislead unless paired with reliable detention counts; the Obama‑era death total of 56 is often presented alongside ICE detention totals to produce per‑detainee rates, but ICE’s public reporting and methodological choices vary by year and fiscal versus calendar reporting, complicating apples‑to‑apples comparisons [2]. Analysts such as the Cato Institute used available detention figures to calculate death rates per 100,000 detainees and found that early‑Trump years (the three years available to that analysis) showed an annual rate of about 2.4 deaths per 100,000 detainees versus 2.7 per 100,000 for the first three years of Obama — while the Obama presidency’s overall average was reported near 2.3 per 100,000 in other Cato tabulations [3].
3. Different narratives: ICE’s low‑rate framing and advocates’ counterclaims
ICE officials or allies sometimes frame the mortality issue by emphasizing very small percentage figures — for example, an ICE‑aligned commentator cited a 0.00007% rate without publicly disclosing the underlying data in a Guardian interview — an assertion that NGOs and reporters note but say lacks transparent sourcing [1]. Conversely, advocacy groups such as the ACLU and Detention Watch Network argue many deaths were preventable and tie higher absolute death counts in 2025 to operational failures and poor medical care across facilities [4] [5].
4. What the independent analyses say about trends
Independent reviews show a long‑term decline in detainee death rates from the early ICE years after 2004, but with spikes tied to policy shifts and detention volume; Cato’s historical charting finds the Bush years had the highest totals and rates, with a post‑2004 decline and modest variations under Obama and Trump depending on the measurement window [3]. In 2025, multiple outlets and monitoring projects flagged a pronounced uptick in deaths concurrent with rapid increases in detention, reinforcing the view that rising population in facilities produces higher absolute deaths even if rate calculations vary [1] [6] [7].
5. Limits of the record and why the comparison can’t be definitive
The reporting record is constrained by ICE’s inconsistent publication of detention totals and the use of different fiscal or calendar years by analysts, so precise, definitive per‑administration death‑per‑detainee rates are elusive; critics have repeatedly called out gaps in transparency that prevent a single authoritative calculation [2] [4]. Where data exist, they provide a consistent signal — 2025 was unusually lethal in absolute terms and matched the worst year on record — but whether the Trump era overall is definitively “deadlier” than Obama’s depends on which years and denominators are included and how preventability and care failures are weighed [1] [3] [5].