There have been almost as many deaths in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in half of 2025 as there were in all of 2024, officials report.
Since the beginning of the fiscal year, 11 people have died in ICE custody, as indicated by data and press releases released by the agency. The year 2024 saw 12 deaths in custody.
However, the number "could be much higher," according to former Immigration Detention Ombudsman Michelle Brané, who worked to provide objective data regarding federal immigration detentions, as reported by CNN.
"People's lives are at risk," she told the outlet.
This news comes just after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem made massive cuts to three watchdog groups tasked with monitoring federal immigration detentions, firing hundreds of staff including advocates and whistleblowers.
"DHS remains committed to civil rights protections but must streamline oversight to remove roadblocks to enforcement," a department spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. "These reductions ensure taxpayer dollars support the Department's core mission: border security and immigration enforcement."
Katie Shepherd, a former employee of the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) who also was one of the whistleblowers to submit a disclosure to Congress earlier this month, argued that the Trump administration "should be increasing oversight, not eliminating it" given the rapid increase of people being detained.
"It's problematic in many different ways," Shepherd told the outlet.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that the office is "committed to civil rights" and insisted that "all legally required functions are still being carried out—but in a more efficient and cost-effective way."
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