UCLA Finds Sharp Rise In Deaths Among People Held In ICE Custody

Researchers say the risk of dying in ICE custody is now higher than at any point in 15 years outside the pandemic.

By City News Service, Patch Staff

Oct 29, 2026 2:55 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES, CA — The risk of dying in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody is now higher than at any time in the past 15 years except during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a UCLA School of Law analysis released Thursday.

The analysis found that death rates in immigration detention facilities reached twice the historical average over the past year.

The findings are included in a public dashboard from the UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project that tracks national mortality rates in immigration detention from January 2009 to the present. The dashboard combines individual death records with estimates of the number of people held in ICE detention over time, according to researchers.

The data accounts for changes in the detained population and the amount of time people remain in custody, allowing comparisons between periods when ICE held different numbers of people.

Mortality rates are calculated using person-years, a measure of the total time people spend in custody. One person detained for a year contributes the same amount of person-time as 12 people detained for one month each.

"When more people are detained, we might expect more deaths even if the mortality rate stays the same," said UCLA law professor Sharon Dolovich, director of the Behind Bars Data Project. "But this data shows that deaths are too high to be explained by population growth alone. ICE custody has become deadlier. That finding demands closer scrutiny of conditions in ICE custody."

A request for comment sent to ICE was not immediately returned.

The analysis draws on individually verified death records compiled by lawyer and journalist Andrew Free, along with detention population estimates compiled by the Vera Institute of Justice using ICE records made available by the Deportation Data Project.

The UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project works to increase transparency and accountability in the U.S. detention system through data compilation and research.

City News Service