how many people have ice killed so far

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not publish a single, definitive “body count,” so any answer can only use documented deaths in ICE custody or during ICE operations , not every death ICE may be morally responsible for.

Quick Scoop

• In 2025 , at least 30–32 people died while in ICE detention , the highest annual number in roughly two decades.

• In early 2026 , publicly disclosed information shows at least six deaths in ICE detention , plus several more people killed or fatally injured in encounters with ICE agents outside detention (for example, recent high‑profile shootings of civilians during enforcement actions).

• Older tallies (from NGOs and media investigations) show hundreds of deaths in ICE detention over the life of the agency , but they are incomplete and not fully consistent with one another, so no honest source can give a precise “so far in total” number.

So the most accurate thing anyone can say is:

ICE has been directly linked to hundreds of deaths over the years through deaths in detention and enforcement encounters, with 2025 being its deadliest year in over two decades and 2026 already showing multiple new deaths , but there is no authoritative total count of “how many people ICE has killed so far.”

What the numbers actually cover

When people ask “how many people has ICE killed?” they usually mean one or more of these:

1. Deaths in ICE detention centers
   • These include deaths from medical neglect, suicide, violence, disease, and other causes while a person is formally in ICE custody.

 * Recent data indicate:
   * **32 deaths in 2025** in ICE custody, matching the previous high from 2004.

   * **At least 30 deaths in 2025** and **six more in the first weeks of 2026** , according to monitoring groups and border-policy analysts.

   * **As of January 25, 2026, six deaths in ICE detention disclosed for 2026** , per a compiled list of deaths.

2. Deaths during ICE enforcement actions (outside detention)
   • This includes people shot or otherwise killed during raids, arrests, or other operations, like the 2026 shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti , both U.S. citizens killed by federal immigration agents.

 * These cases are often tracked piecemeal by journalists and activists, not in one official government dataset.

3. Indirect or harder‑to-count deaths
   • People who died shortly after release, deportation, or transfer to other custody where the link to ICE is real but harder to prove (for example, deported to life‑threatening conditions, or medical issues worsened by detention).

 * These are almost never systematically counted.

Because of these categories, any single figure that claims “ICE has killed X people” is almost certainly leaving something out or mixing categories without saying so.

Why there is no precise “so far” total

Several reasons make a clean cumulative number impossible:

• Fragmented reporting
  • ICE issues individual press releases on deaths, but these can be delayed, incomplete, or use neutral language that obscures responsibility.

* Advocacy groups and journalists maintain their own tallies, but they use different cut‑offs (calendar year vs fiscal year, detention-only vs including enforcement incidents).

• Disputed causes of death
  • In several 2025–2026 cases, official explanations (suicide, natural causes) are challenged by autopsies or eyewitness accounts suggesting homicide or severe neglect.

* That means even when a death is recorded, whether it counts as “ICE killed this person” is contested.

• Lack of transparency and oversight
  • Reports describe ICE’s detention system as operating with reduced oversight and worsening conditions while deaths increased, which itself makes comprehensive, trustworthy data hard to come by.

Because of these factors, researchers usually talk about documented deaths in specific time windows (like 2025 or “since 2003”) instead of one grand running total.

How to interpret “responsibility” and harm

Even when the cause is listed as “heart failure” or “suicide,” many advocates argue that ICE still bears responsibility when:

• People were denied timely medical care, mental health support, or safe conditions.

• Detention was unnecessary, prolonged, or known to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.

• Enforcement tactics, like aggressive raids or vehicle shootings, escalated situations that did not have to be lethal.

So when someone asks how many people ICE has killed , it’s often less about pinning a mathematically perfect number and more about recognizing that:

• Deaths are happening at a historically high rate in ICE custody.

• The system has design features—mass detention, thin oversight, harsh conditions—that predictably lead to preventable deaths.

If you’re looking for one takeaway

• Documented deaths in ICE detention alone number in the hundreds since the agency was created, with at least 32 in 2025 and at least six more disclosed already in early 2026.

• Add shootings and other enforcement-related deaths, and the true number of lives lost in connection with ICE is higher, but no complete, reliable total exists.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.