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ICE detention deaths nearly double as federal oversight offices are gutted

Sep 30, 2026

ICE detention deaths nearly double as federal oversight offices are gutted
Photo via news.bloomberglaw.com

Thirty-seven people have died in ICE custody since last fall, the deadliest fiscal year on record, as the agency's detention population exceeded 60,000 at any given time and facilities became overcrowded. The Trump administration slashed staff at DHS's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties from more than 100 employees to fewer than five and shuttered the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, leaving the Office of Inspector General as the sole remaining oversight body, though Congress allocated it $20 million in new funding. Recent OIG inspections found compliance failures, including improper use-of-force practices and inadequate medical staffing, at the Krome North Service Processing Center, the "Alligator Alcatraz" facility in Florida, and the Cibola County Correctional Center in New Mexico.

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