Deaths in ICE Custody

Reported. Based on reported deaths. Each death is reported individually, in ICE's own legally required death reports. Methodology last updated February 14, 2026.

Deaths of people held in ICE detention, counted from ICE's own legally required death reports, with dates, names and facilities.

This represents deaths while in ICE/ERO custody.

Background

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is part of the Department of Homeland Security, with a stated mission: "Protect America through criminal investigations and enforcing immigration laws to preserve national security and public safety." ICE's law enforcement components are Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

ERO is responsible for operating 436 facilities (as of June 2025) to detain and house people who are in the process of being deported from the United States.

Sources:

Methodology

ICE is required by law to report in-custody deaths. The count shown is drawn directly from those reports.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

AI-Extracted Columns

The following columns are extracted from the source documents by an AI language model and have not been verified. They may contain errors, hallucinations, or misinterpretations of the original text:

age_years — Age of the deceased
sex — Sex of the deceased
citizenship_country — Country of citizenship
facility_name — Hospital or facility where death occurred
city — City, if available
state — U.S. state
custody_agency — Custodial agency (e.g. ICE ERO)
detention_facility_at_time_of_death — Detention facility at the time of death
cause_of_death_guess — Free-text cause of death
manner_of_death_guess — Manner of death (e.g. natural, suicide, undetermined)

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