Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators determined that failing medical care preceded the deaths of 23 immigrants in detention.

The [*San Francisco Chronicle*](https://www.sfchronicle.com/us-world/article/ice-detainee-medical-care-investigations-22495407.php) obtained internal reports on the deaths of 29 immigrant detainees who died between January 2025 and January 2026. In the 29 cases the *Chronicle *reviewed, 23 immigrants died after receiving medical care the agency itself found was deficient.

ICE investigators determined that detention staff “deviated from safe limits of practice,” or “did not provide medical care within safe limits of practice” for the 23 detainees.

In at least eight of the cases, medical staff failed to perform CPR correctly, or at all. In only three of the cases, investigators determined that the deficient medical care did not directly contribute to the person’s death.

...

During President Donald Trump’s second term, ICE has subjected tens of thousands of people—including U.S. citizens, lawful immigrants, and immigrants with no criminal convictions—to [overcrowded rooms](https://newrepublic.com/post/215822/federal-judge-ice-mass-arrests-detention-conditions), [unsanitary conditions,](https://newrepublic.com/post/214058/ice-detainee-delaney-hall-edwin-lopez-cornejo-died-lawyer-medical-concerns) and [insufficient food and water](https://newrepublic.com/post/197740/donald-trump-alligator-alcatraz-already-massive-disaster).

In many cases, immigrants report having been denied adequate [medical care](https://newrepublic.com/post/211563/damning-report-conditions-donald-trump-ice-megaprison). Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff released a report in October 2025 [documenting](https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/25.10.24_Sen.-Ossoff-Medical-Neglect-Denial-of-Adequate-Food-or-Water-in-U.S.-Immigration-Detention.pdf) at least “85 credible reports of medical neglect” at U.S. detention centers. In January, ICE [announced](https://newrepublic.com/post/205458/ice-detainees-pay-for-medical-care) that it had stopped paying for immigrant detainees to receive health care—and wasn’t planning on paying again for months.

For the Trump administration, the cruelty is part of the point. The Department of Homeland Security even [rejected](https://newrepublic.com/post/216414/stephen-miller-shot-down-ice-facilities-humane) plans to construct immigration detention facilities that were more humane.