hirty-two people died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in 2025 – making it the agency’s deadliest year in more than two decades, as the Trump administration moved to detain a record number of people.

Some of those who died in detention had arrived in the US recently, seeking asylum. Others had arrived years ago, some as young children. Some had been apprehended on criminal charges or had served time for convictions; others had been picked up in the administration’s indiscriminate ICE raids.

They died of seizure and heart failure, stroke, respiratory failure, tuberculosis or suicide. Some died at ICE detention centers and field offices, others after they had been transferred to hospitals, but were still under ICE custody. In some cases, their families and lawyers have alleged, they died of neglect, after repeatedly trying and failing to get medical care.

The number of deaths, 32, matched the previous record, set in 2004. These deaths occurred as the Trump administration ramped up its immigration operations, detaining a record number of people in December. The agency was holding 68,440 people in detention in mid-December; nearly 75% of them had no criminal convictions. December was also the deadliest month in ICE custody – six people died.