How many ICE related deaths during trump’s two terms
Executive summary
At least 32 people died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in 2025, a figure reported by multiple outlets and described as the agency’s deadliest year in more than two decades [1]. Reporting shows additional deaths and shootings linked to immigration enforcement in early 2026, but the available sources do not provide a single, authoritative tally that covers both of Donald Trump’s full presidential terms combined, so a definitive two‑term total cannot be calculated from the documents provided [1] [2] [3].
1. What is firmly on the record for Trump’s second term: a deadly 2025
Major news organizations documented that 32 people died in ICE custody during calendar year 2025, a number characterized as the highest annual toll since 2004 and linked by reporters to a dramatic expansion in detention under the Trump administration [1] [4]. That 32‑death count is cited repeatedly across investigative and mainstream outlets and is used as the baseline for critiques of overcrowding, poor medical care and rising transfers between facilities that advocates and some reporters say contributed to the spike [1] [5] [6].
2. Early 2026: more deaths and agent‑involved shootings that complicate the tally
Reporting from Reuters, PBS and others documents additional in‑custody deaths and at least one high‑profile shooting by an ICE officer in January 2026, with outlets noting at least six deaths in early January and several agent‑involved shootings that month as separate but related fatal incidents [2] [7] [8]. News coverage distinguishes between deaths occurring while a person remains under ICE custody and deaths caused by enforcement encounters (for example fatal shootings), and the sources show both categories increasing as enforcement operations expanded [9] [8].
3. First term (2017–2021): fragmentary public numbers, not a consolidated total here
The supplied sources include year‑by‑year snippets from public lists and reporting — for example, some years in the earlier Trump administration show nine reported ICE‑detention deaths in both 2018 and 2019 and 11 deaths reported in 2024 on a related list — but none of the provided documents offers a complete, verified sum for the entire first Trump term or a combined two‑term total [3] [10]. Public datasets and NGO trackers vary in methodology, and multiple sources warn that official reporting can undercount deaths because critically ill people may be released before death or because different agencies (Border Patrol vs ICE) report separately [6] [3].
4. Why precise aggregation is hard: inconsistent reporting, different categories, and disputed accounting
Advocacy groups and watchdogs argue ICE sometimes conceals the full mortality impact by releasing detainees prior to death and by relying on private contractors and frequent transfers that complicate recordkeeping, while DHS and ICE officials counter that they provide standard medical care and report deaths as required — an accountability dispute reflected in the sources [6] [1]. Public tallies also separate “deaths in ICE custody” from deaths in Border Patrol custody or deaths caused by enforcement actions (shootings, crashes), and the supplied reporting mixes those categories across stories, which prevents a single definitive two‑term total from being drawn solely from these documents [8] [9].
5. Bottom line and what can be stated with confidence
From the reporting provided, the clearest, corroborated number is that 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 — a record high noted by The Guardian and echoed by Reuters, PBS and advocacy groups [1] [2] [7]. Early 2026 saw additional in‑custody deaths and several enforcement‑related shootings [8] [9]. However, the sources do not supply a complete, audited count of all ICE‑related deaths across both of Trump’s presidential terms, so any precise “two‑term” total cannot be responsibly provided based on the materials at hand [3] [6].