ICE to stop reporting migrant deaths after release amid historic rise in deaths in custody

Amid growing scrutiny over the rising number of deaths in immigration detention, the Trump administration has eliminated a policy that required U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to investigate and report the deaths of detainees that occurred within 30 days of their release.

The move was first reported Thursday by The Washington Post, which obtained an internal memo sent to agency employees by acting ICE Director David Venturella. In the document, Venturella informed staff that the agency would once again report only deaths that occur while an individual remains in federal custody. The Department of Homeland Security later confirmed the change in a post on X.

The policy being rescinded had been adopted in 2021 during the Biden administration. Deborah Fleischaker, who served as ICE’s acting chief of staff at the time, told The Washington Post that the change was intended to prevent seriously ill detainees from being released shortly before death, which would keep their cases from being counted as deaths in custody.

The Department of Homeland Security defended the decision, arguing that ICE’s responsibility ends once an individual formally leaves the agency’s custody. “Under this updated policy, when an individual is no longer in ICE custody then ICE will no longer be responsible for monitoring or reviewing deaths that may occur. This is common sense,” the department said on X. It added: “ICE is not responsible when an individual passes away weeks after leaving their custody.”

In the same statement, the agency said it would continue reporting deaths that occur while individuals remain detained: “ICE remains committed to transparency regarding detainee deaths. This updated policy outlines procedures for timely notification, review and reporting of deaths occurring in ICE custody, including notifying next of kin, consulates, Congress and the public.”

Immigrant rights advocates, however, argue that eliminating the 30-day reporting requirement will make it harder to identify medical issues that originate during detention but lead to death shortly after release.

According to a recent analysis, 49 deaths have been recorded in ICE custody since the beginning of Trump’s second term. The agency has also reported 18 detainee deaths during the first five months of 2026, a pace that could surpass the at least 30 deaths recorded in 2025, the highest annual total in two decades.

A separate study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) examined 272 deaths in ICE custody over a 22-year period. Researchers found that after years of decline, the mortality rate began rising sharply in 2023 and has now exceeded levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the report, the mortality rate increased from 13 deaths per 100,000 detainees in 2023 to 31.8 in 2024 and 47.5 in 2025. By January 2026, it had reached 88.9, surpassing even the pandemic-era peak of 75.6 recorded in 2020.

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