Deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody soared to the highest level in more than 20 years in 2025. According to ICE data, at least 30 non-U.S. citizens died while in custody in the 2025 calendar year. ICE reports custody deaths by fiscal year, running from October to September, as well as via its newsroom webpage, which has more frequent updates. According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), a maximum of a 30-day reporting lag may take place between a detainee's death and the publishing of the notice online. The Guardian has since reported that the death toll is higher, with its journalists having verified 32 names across multiple sources.
There were spikes in the number of deaths in both September and December, with six people reported to have died in each month. In September, two of the six were killed in a sniper attack at an immigration facility in Dallas, Texas. Other causes of death reported throughout the year included seizures, complications after surgery, heart failure and suicide.
The grim pattern of deaths has continued into this year. According to ICE records, four people died in custody in the first nine days of the year: Parady La (46), Luis Beltran Yanez–Cruz (68), Geraldo Lunas Campos (55), Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres (42).
The rise in deaths comes as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to ramp up his crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States. According to Trace Reports, there were 65,735 people in detention on November 30, 2025. Nearly three quarters of these (73.6 percent) had no criminal conviction, with many of those convicted having committed only minor offenses, including traffic violations.
ICE was created in 2003, following the reorganization of U.S. immigration enforcement after 9/11. In 2004, the agency was expanding rapidly. That year was the first recorded full calendar year and saw 32 deaths - the highest number ICE has recorded to date.
Also important to note, is that this chart is based on ICE data and may show a lower count than other sources, due to its definition of ICE custody. For example, unlike the AILA, ICE does not record the death of Zeresenay Ermias Testfatsion in 2018, who died by suicide as he was in the process of being deported to Eritrea, arranged by ICE, and was at that time being held by Eritrean authorities.
