Overview
- Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights reported on June 25 that at least 52 people died in ICE custody in the first 500 days of President Trump’s second term and that the annual mortality rate rose about 140 percent compared with the prior year.
- The DHS Office of Inspector General has opened formal reviews to examine the rise in detainee deaths from Oct. 1, 2021 through March 31, 2026 and to evaluate use-of-force practices with fieldwork set to begin next month.
- The joint report and medical reviews identify repeated delays and inadequate medical care in specific cases, including Maksym Chernyak, whose stroke response and transfer to higher-level care were reportedly delayed and may have contributed to his death.
- ICE recently narrowed its public reporting to count only deaths that occur while a person is physically in custody, a change rights groups say removes transparency about post-release hospital deaths and hinders oversight.
- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged prompt independent investigations and the report has renewed calls in Congress for stricter oversight, possible funding conditions, and mandatory independent reviews of every in-custody death.