As of April 11, 2026, at least 47 people have died in ICE custody since Trump's second term began — with the death rate reaching 11 per 100,000 admissions, compared to 7 per 100,000 last year and just 1 per 100,000 in 2022. ICE detention has hit a record ~70,000 detainees, the highest in the agency's 23-year history.
The death toll doubled in barely a month: from 23 in early March to 47 by mid-April. The 47th death was Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, 49, a Mexican national who died at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana on April 11 after 93 days in custody. He is the 15th Mexican national to die under this administration's immigration crackdown and the 16th detained death of 2026.
A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found that 36 of 46 deaths (as of March 18) occurred among people detained for three months or fewer, and 32 involved existing medical conditions with worsening complications. Nine deaths were reported as suicides. ICE inspections plummeted 36.25% in 2025 even as detentions soared, according to POGO.
Mexico has escalated its response. Diplomat Vanessa Calva Ruiz called the deaths “an alarming, unacceptable trend” revealing “systemic failures, operational deficiencies, and possible negligence.” Mexico announced it would file a legal brief supporting a lawsuit alleging poor conditions at the Adelanto facility and raise the issue to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has demanded answers. Over 30 Democratic lawmakers have called for accountability from DHS.
On June 25, 2026, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights released a 72-page report, “Dying in Detention,” finding at least 52 deaths in ICE custody in the 500 days since Trump's inauguration, with the mortality rate at its highest in over a decade, more than double the rate earlier in his term and nearly four times the rate under Biden, and seven apparent suicides in the administration's first year (compared with one in 2024). The next day, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for an investigation. Weeks earlier, on June 4, acting ICE Director David Venturella had rescinded the rule requiring the agency to report deaths within 30 days of a detainee's release (see ICE Drops the Rule Requiring It to Report Deaths of Detainees Who Die Within 30 Days of Release, as Custody Deaths Run at a 20-Year High).
Update (September 29, 2026): ICE's detainee death reporting page, which runs through August 23, 2026, lists 57 deaths in ICE custody since January 20, 2025: 33 in the rest of 2025 and 24 so far in 2026. (It lists 49 through April 11, two more than the count of 47 this entry reported at the time.) Counting deaths outside detention, Syracuse University researcher Austin Kocher, as cited by the Guardian, finds at least 31 people have died in 2026 during interactions with immigration officials: four shot, 25 in detention and at least two while fleeing.
One of them was Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva, 45, from Venezuela, found unresponsive at about 7:46 a.m. on July 13 on a bus transferring him between two Georgia detention centers, ICE said. He had hypertension, diabetes, anxiety and depression, according to a preliminary ICE report described by the Guardian, and his family says he did not receive the medications he relied on. His sister: “I am 100% certain that he did not receive proper care.” A DHS spokesperson said he “received medical care and was seen by medical professionals.” The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating.
Update (October 21, 2026): Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, 56, was found unresponsive on October 17 at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo, Texas, and declared dead; the cause is pending autopsy. ICE's own release calls him “a lawful permanent resident” and says he obtained that status “through fraudulent means” by not disclosing a 2004 arrest, and that he “received proper medical care.” USA Today reported he is the seventh person to die in ICE detention in Texas this year and that at least 58 people have died in ICE detention since January 2025, by its tracker. ICE's public death list had not been updated past August.
Update (October 27, 2026): Luis Sandoval, 48, of El Salvador, died on October 23 at the Folkston D. Ray ICE Processing Center in Folkston, Georgia. According to ICE, staff found him “with a ligature around his neck” at about 1:46 a.m., and he was pronounced dead at about 2:28 a.m.; ICE says his death “is under investigation” and that an autopsy will determine the cause and manner of death. ICE's Newark office arrested him on October 2, and he arrived at Folkston on October 8. The local sheriff's office asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to conduct an in-custody death investigation, the Guardian reported. His death came during a hunger strike at the complex; whether he took part was not known.
The count depends on the source. ICE's own death list, last updated September 23, shows 57 deaths in custody from January 20, 2025 through August 23, 2026. ICE has since announced four more deaths in news releases: Carlos Josue Marchena-Marchena, 36, on September 18; Julian Curo-Churata, 47, on September 29; Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias on October 17; and Sandoval. Added to the list, those make 61. Rep. Pramila Jayapal wrote, “Today I received notification of the 60th death in ICE custody since Trump returned to office,” and the Guardian also counts Sandoval's as the 60th. At least 60 people have died in ICE custody since Trump's second term began.