29 Deaths in ICE Custody Break 22-Year Record in FY2026

ICE custody deaths in Fiscal Year 2026 (October 2025–present) reached 29 by April 18, 2026, breaking the 22-year record of 28 set in FY2004. The calendar year 2026 total stands at 17 — approximately one death per week. Advocacy groups and medical experts attribute the record toll to overcrowding at rapidly expanded facilities, ICE's October 3, 2025 decision to stop paying for third-party medical care, and inadequate staffing at converted warehouses and military facilities used for detention. Only 15 of 49 deaths since January 2025 received required 48-hour interim notices to Congress. A Fort Bliss, Texas military detention facility recorded a death ruled homicide. Democracy Now! reported on April 21 that Setareh Ghandehari of Detention Watch Network described the toll as unlike anything previously documented.