ICE will no longer report deaths of detainees who have recently been released from custody
The change follows 33 ICE custody deaths in 2025 and 18 more in the first half of 2026, raising scrutiny over detention conditions.
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will stop tracking or disclosing the deaths of immigrants who die shortly after being released from custody.
- The decision eliminates a 2021 Biden-era policy that mandated ICE to report and investigate any detainee deaths occurring within 30 days of release, a rule explicitly designed to stop the agency from releasing terminally ill or severely injured individuals just to avoid having an "in-custody" death on its records.
- Acting ICE Director David Venturella defended the change in an internal memo, stating that the agency is simply returning to its standard practice of only reporting deaths that occur while an individual is physically in federal custody.
- The Department of Homeland Security backed the move as a matter of "common sense," releasing a statement arguing that the government should not be held responsible for monitoring or reviewing the medical outcomes of individuals weeks after they have left ICE facilities.
- Public health experts and immigrant rights advocates heavily condemned the rollback, warning that it will obscure the true human cost of mass detention at a time when 18 detainees have already died in the first five months of 2026—a rate on pace to surpass a two-decade high.
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The Immigration and Customs Control Service will not provide further information on immigrants who die after being released
Immigration officials change protocol for reporting deaths of detainees removed from custody
A critical policy change from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is raising alarms over the agency's transparency when it comes to people who have died after they were in federal custody.
ICE is going to stop reporting when detainees die soon after being released
At least 18 ICE detainees have died shortly after being released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities this year. This week, ICE announced that it would no longer release information related to such deaths. Advocates worry that this will obscure ICE’s practice of releasing severely sick detainees so that they die outside of facilities. In 2021, the Biden administration ordered ICE to report to Congress about any detainees who…
ICE to stop reporting deaths of newly released detainees: ‘This is common sense’
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will no longer publicly report the deaths of released detainees under a newly revised policy, according to an internal memo sent to agency employees Thursday. In the memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post, acting Director David Venturella said ICE is ending its requirement to report any…
ICE to No Longer Report Deaths of Detainees Recently Released From Custody
(MedPage Today) -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will no longer report deaths of detainees who have recently been released from its custody, in a change that could obscure the full human cost of the Trump administration's mass detention...
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