The death rate among immigrants held in U.S. detention facilities has more than doubled since President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a Reuters analysis of government data, adding new scrutiny to detention conditions as the administration expands immigration enforcement nationwide.
Reuters reported that the annual death rate in immigration detention rose from one death for every 3,848 detainees between 2009 and 2024 to one death for every 1,630 detainees during Trump's second term. The analysis relied on data compiled by the Deportation Data Project and obtained through public records requests processed by the Vera Institute of Justice.
The findings come as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has overseen a sharp increase in the detained immigrant population. Reuters reported that the detainee population grew from roughly 40,000 when former President Joe Biden left office to more than 70,000 earlier this year before declining to approximately 57,000 in June.
Since Trump took office, 50 detainees have died in facilities across the United States, according to the Reuters report. The deaths occurred under a detention system that has faced mounting criticism from government auditors, medical experts and immigrant-rights advocates.
Among the 50 reported deaths:
- 21 detainees were found unresponsive.
- 10 deaths were believed to be suicides.
- 16 deaths were linked to heart attacks or heart disease-related conditions.
The increase in deaths coincides with concerns raised in a recent Government Accountability Office review of Camp East Montana, one of the facilities used to house immigration detainees.
According to the GAO report, investigators identified significant operational shortcomings, including deficiencies in medical care, sanitation and security. The report also cited concerns surrounding a February detainee death that had been ruled a homicide.
"However, the contractor did not provide use of force and death reports to ICE, as required. In addition, evidence associated with the incident was missing or destroyed," the GAO report stated.
The review documented several additional problems, including inadequate tuberculosis screening procedures and failures to provide treatment plans for detainees suffering from chronic illnesses. According to the report, detainees diagnosed with conditions such as diabetes and HIV were not receiving care consistent with national detention standards.
The GAO also found that some housing units were cleaned only weekly rather than daily, creating unsanitary conditions. In a separate incident, a contract security guard reportedly lost a loaded firearm inside the facility in January. The weapon has not been recovered.
"ICE began housing detained noncitizens without meeting key detention standards and without undergoing a required pre-occupancy inspection," the report stated. "ICE risks failing to meet legal and policy-based obligations to maintain a safe and secure environment for detained noncitizens, ICE employees, and contractors, and to treat detained noncitizens humanely in those facilities."
Medical experts interviewed by Reuters said the growing detainee population may be contributing to the rise in mortality. Chanelle Diaz, an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, argued that detention facilities often struggle to manage long-term health conditions.
"The system is not designed for chronic-care management," Diaz told Reuters.
