ICE deaths up 140%

HUMAN RIGHTS: 52 DETAINEES DIE SINCE TRUMP’S SECOND TERM - REPORT

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The rate of people dying in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody has reached its highest level in over a decade amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants, rights groups said yesterday.

At least 52 deaths have been reported in ICE holding facilities since Trump’s second term began in January 2025, according to a joint report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Physicians for Human Rights.

Trump has made combating illegal immigration a top priority of his second term, with authorities rounding up thousands of people and expanding detention centres.

From January last year to January this year, the annual mortality rate in ICE custody was up 140% compared to a year earlier, the report said.

The death rate is nearly four times that seen under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, and over two times higher than during the Republican’s first term from 2017 to 2021.