After years of decline, mortality in U.S. immigration detention centers has soared to its highest level in more than two decades, surpassing even the records set during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The spike comes amid a rapid increase in immigration detentions under the Trump administration and mounting complaints about conditions inside the facilities, combined with limited access to medical care and inadequate oversight mechanisms. Experts cited in an accompanying editorial argue that the spike in deaths sends a warning sign about the health of a population in state custody.
The report analyzed 272 deaths in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over a 22‑year period. Although the number of deaths fluctuated from year to year, the analysis focuses on the mortality rate — the number of deaths relative to the detained population — to compare periods.
After a long decline from the early years of the study — with the exception of a spike in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic — the mortality rate has risen since 2023, when it reached its lowest point in two decades. That year, it stood at 13 deaths per 100,000 people; in 2024, it rose to 31.8; in 2025, to 47.5; and by January 2026, it had reached 88.9 — nearly double the previous year and even higher than the 2020 peak of 75.6.
The authors of the study caution that it is limited by the lack of detailed data and that the figures rely on public records, meaning the true number of deaths may be underestimated. In 2023, four deaths were reported; in 2024, 12; in 2025, 23; and by January 19, 2026, 18.
Most of those who died were men, with an average age of 45. In nearly half the cases, there is no clearly established cause of death, which prevents the identification of preventable causes and limits accountability, the report notes.
The rise in deaths comes amid an anti‑immigration crackdown under U.S. President Trump, who has pledged the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. Since his return to the White House, the number of people detained by ICE has risen from about 39,000 to more than 70,000, most of them individuals without criminal records.
Immigration authorities have carried out large‑scale operations in Democratic‑led cities, arrested asylum seekers at their immigration hearings, and signed cooperation agreements known as 287(g) with more than 1,300 state and local police departments. At the same time, the administration has left hundreds of thousands of people without legal status and suspended immigration processing for citizens of an expanding list of countries.
In an editorial accompanying the report, scientists warn that the country is facing “the highest level of immigration detention in its history.” The number of detainees has risen 84% in the past year and is expected to continue climbing. The editorial warns that Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax law, passed last summer, has tripled ICE’s budget and includes $45 billion to expand detention capacity to 100,000 beds.
In Florida, where nearly half of last year’s deaths in custody occurred, conditions inside detention centers have been the subject of complaints from human‑rights organizations, lawyers, and activists. Amnesty International described treatment and conditions amounting to “torture” at the Alligator Alcatraz facility in the Everglades, west of Miami. Detainees have reported medical neglect, lack of potable water, poor hygiene, restricted access to legal counsel, and abusive behavior by guards. Human Rights Watch also found “dehumanizing” conditions at the Krome processing center, southwest of Miami, where detainees even formed SOS signs in the yard. Similar problems have been reported at other facilities, such as Deportation Depot in northern Florida.
The pattern aligns with the report’s findings, which warn of a widespread decline in conditions across detention centers, with facilities operating above capacity, people sleeping on the floor without bedding, and reports of insufficient food, poor hygiene, and extreme temperatures — all of which call into question compliance with basic standards and due‑process guarantees.
The article highlights “persistent deficiencies in the management of chronic diseases,” such as cardiovascular conditions, which have been a constant throughout the 22 years analyzed. Suicide accounted for nearly a quarter of deaths between 2017 and 2020 and “has remained a significant cause,” suggesting severe gaps in mental‑health care.
Only 12% of deaths occurred in hospitals, indicating that many detainees with serious illnesses may not have received specialized care in time.
The doctors who signed the editorial warn that the Department of Homeland Security has virtually dismantled the agencies responsible for protecting detainees, such as the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. They also point out that, although ICE is legally required to inspect detention centers twice a year, in 2025, no facility received more than one inspection, while capacity increased by over 90% and the number of detainees nearly doubled.
According to the editorial, the administration has also blocked members of Congress from visiting detention centers, despite federal law explicitly granting legislators that right. The result, they argue, is a detention system that is larger, more crowded, with fewer medical resources, and subject to less external scrutiny than at any point in recent years — conditions that likely contribute to higher mortality.
The editorial concludes that the findings of the study require an urgent response from both government authorities and the medical community. They call for stronger oversight, guaranteed unannounced access for independent medical monitors, and better systems for tracking deaths in custody.
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