San Francisco Chronicle: ICE's Own Mortality Reviews, Obtained Under FOIA, Found Deficient Medical Care Preceded 23 of 29 Detainee Deaths From January 2025 to January 2026

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that it obtained 29 mortality reviews of immigration detainees who died from January 2025 through January 2026, through a Freedom of Information Act request. Twenty-three of those immigrants died after receiving medical care that the agency itself determined was deficient: ICE’s investigators found that detention staff “deviated from safe limits of practice” or did not provide care within those limits. At least eight times, medical staff failed to perform CPR correctly or at all. In only three of the 23 cases, investigators concluded that deviations from safe limits of practice did not directly contribute to a person’s death.

DHS told the Chronicle there had been “NO spike in deaths,” but federal data show the 33 deaths in ICE detention in 2025 were the most in any year since the agency’s creation in 2003. The Chronicle counts at least 62 people who have died in ICE custody since Trump returned to office in 2025. Rep. Bennie Thompson, ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said he plans to hold hearings on the issue next year. The reviews are separate from the eight 2025 death reviews ICE briefly posted and then removed in September.