How many people died in ICE custody and in ICE raids during Trumps first presidency and his second presidency in total?
Executive summary
Available reporting does not supply a clean, single-source tally for every death tied to ICE across Trump’s two presidencies, but the best reconstruction from the provided sources is that roughly 47 people died in ICE custody during Trump’s first term (2017–2020) and at least 31–32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 alone during his second term, with another four deaths reported in the opening days of 2026 — yielding an approximate custody total of 35–36 so far in the second term and a combined custody estimate near 82–83 deaths across both presidencies based on the sources supplied [1] [2] [3] [4]. Reporting on deaths directly caused by ICE raids (shootings or on-scene killings) is fragmentary in these sources: they document a spike in ICE agent shootings in 2025–26 and specific fatal incidents, but do not provide a comprehensive, reconciled count of “raid” fatalities across the two administrations [5] [6].
1. How the sources count custody deaths and why different numbers appear
A Physicians for Human Rights–style review cited in the reporting lists 52 deaths in ICE custody across 2017–2021, which is the clearest multi‑year compilation available in the material provided; because that aggregate includes 2021 (five deaths) explicitly noted elsewhere, subtracting 2021 yields an inferred 47 deaths in custody from 2017–2020 — a working estimate for Trump’s first term based on the available aggregation [1] [2]. Independent news organizations and watchdog groups converge on 2025 as an unusually deadly year: The Guardian and multiple outlets report 31–32 deaths in ICE custody during 2025, making it the deadliest year in two decades for ICE detention [3] [7]. Reuters and other outlets report “at least 30” for 2025 in government releases, which explains small discrepancies in published counts [4].
2. A conservative, source‑anchored tally for Trump’s first presidency (2017–2020)
No single provided source lists a definitive 2017–2020 subtotal, but the only multi‑year figure in the materials — 52 deaths for 2017–2021 — combined with confirmation that five deaths occurred in 2021 allows a reasoned estimate of 47 deaths in ICE custody during Trump’s first term (2017–2020) based on the supplied reporting; this should be treated as an inferred total rather than an original government tally, because the underlying lists and government disclosures can differ in format and timing [1] [2].
3. A conservative, source‑anchored tally for Trump’s second presidency (so far)
Reporting documents that 31–32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 — a consensus across The Guardian, Axios and other outlets assessing ICE releases — and that four people died in the first 10 days of 2026 according to government press releases, producing a second‑term custody total to date of roughly 35–36 deaths [3] [7] [4]. Because 2026 is ongoing and reporting tallies differ by a couple of deaths depending on methodology, the prudent statement is “at least 35–36” custody deaths so far in the second term [3] [4].
4. Deaths in ICE raids and shootings: documented incidents, unclear aggregate
The provided sources document a marked rise in confrontational enforcement actions: reporting notes at least 16 separate shootings involving immigration agents under the 2025–26 enforcement surge and cites high‑profile fatal incidents — for example the Jan. 7, 2026 fatal shooting of Renée Good by an ICE agent — but none of the supplied pieces provide a reconciled, administration‑wide count of people killed specifically during ICE raids as distinct from in‑custody deaths, so a complete numerical total for “deaths in ICE raids” across both presidencies cannot be reliably produced from the material given [5] [6].
5. What this means and the key caveats
The aggregate custody estimate here — roughly 47 deaths during Trump’s first term (inferred) and at least 35–36 in his second term so far, for a combined custody total near 82–83 deaths — is built from different reporting methodologies and partial government releases and should be read with caution: outlets vary in which cases they count (ICE press releases vs. independent