The US agency that detains migrants has found fault with its own medical care in most of the deaths it reviewed. Documents from a records request by a US newspaper show that in 23 of 29 deaths between January 2025 and January 2026, investigators from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) found that medical staff missed safe standards or withheld needed care.
The finding matters for US readers because ICE detention is funded by US taxpayers and overseen by Congress. It matters for Latin America because many of the dead are citizens of countries in the region, and their families live abroad.
- Who: ICE, the US agency that holds migrants awaiting removal, wrote 29 internal death reviews for January 2025 to January 2026.
- What: In 23 of the 29 cases, ICE’s own investigators found medical care fell short.
- CPR: At least eight reviews describe CPR, the chest compressions that restart a heart, done wrongly or not at all.
- Mexico: Mexico’s foreign ministry counts 18 Mexican citizens dead in US immigration custody or operations since January 2025.
- As of 9 November 2026, 00:40 GMT
In plain English: ICE is part of the Department of Homeland Security, the US federal department that runs border and immigration enforcement. A death review is the internal report ICE writes after a detainee dies, judging whether staff followed the agency’s own rules.
What the Internal Reviews Show
The 29 reports were obtained by a US newspaper through a public-records request. In 23 of them, ICE investigators concluded that medical staff left safe standards of care or failed to give services a detainee needed.
In only three of those 23 cases did investigators conclude that the lapses did not contribute directly to the death. The documents also describe at least eight deaths in which staff did not perform CPR correctly or did not perform it at all.
We have not seen the full set of 29 reports, so these figures rest on the newspaper’s reading of them. We therefore attribute them to the documents, not to our own review.
Separate reviews point the same way. On Friday 25 September 2026, ICE briefly posted a batch of mortality reviews on its public records library, and by 30 September they were no longer on the site.
How Many Have Died, and Who Were They?
ICE’s own list shows 33 deaths in custody in calendar 2025. Press tallies of earlier years show no higher count since at least 2004.
Tallies published by late September 2026 count at least 56 deaths since Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. ICE lists each death by fiscal year on its detainee death reporting page, with entries running through August 2026.
That page gives names and dates but no nationalities in the entries we checked. Mexico’s foreign ministry said in October 2026 that a man who died in Laredo, Texas, was the 18th Mexican citizen to die in immigration custody or enforcement operations since the start of Trump’s second term.
Other Latin Americans are among the dead. ICE announced that a 27-year-old Guatemalan man died on Monday 16 February 2026 at a Miami hospital after collapsing, with the cause under investigation.
What Congress and Government Say
ICE says it aims to post a news release on its website within two business days of a death. Spending laws passed by Congress also require ICE to make its reports on deaths in custody public within 90 days.
ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility, the agency’s internal investigators, reviews each death. In October 2025, Senator Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, published an investigation that found 85 credible reports of medical neglect and 82 of detainees denied enough food or water.
What It Means for You
If you have a relative in ICE detention, ask the detaining office in writing for a medical check and keep a record of the request. Your country’s consulate can visit, press for care and help with the return of remains, as Mexico’s consulates say they do.
US readers who follow immigration policy should watch whether Congress forces faster, fuller release of these reviews. Our report on Costa Rica’s 77 citizens in ICE detention shows how Latin American governments track their people inside the system.
For wider context, read our report on continuing US deportations. Venezuelans’ legal status is covered in our report on the deportation shield.
What Is Not Known
The full text of the 29 reviews is not public in a form we can check, and the nationalities of most of the dead are unconfirmed. We do not know how many of the dead were from Latin America as a whole.
Counts of deaths differ by a few cases because sources define custody differently. It is not known whether ICE will change medical practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the ICE death reviews find?
In 23 of 29 deaths between January 2025 and January 2026, ICE investigators found medical care fell short of safe standards, according to documents from a records request. At least eight reviews describe CPR done wrongly or not at all.
Where can families find out if a relative died in ICE custody?
ICE posts each death on its detainee death reporting page and aims to do so within two business days. Families abroad can also ask their country’s consulate in the United States for help.
Are deaths in ICE custody rising?
ICE’s own list shows 33 deaths in calendar 2025, higher than any year since at least 2004. Independent tallies count at least 56 since January 2025.
Sources: ICE detainee death reporting page (ice.gov/detain/detainee-death-reporting), ICE public records library, Office of Senator Jon Ossoff investigation report of October 2025 (ossoff.senate.gov), Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs statements of 2026 (sre.gob.mx), and the documents of a US public-records request.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. How we use AI · Report an error