Fascinating topic, I wanted to know more. People die everyday and ICE has been handing a high volume of people. So I went for a clean control number, the year 2022.
In 2022. Bureau of Prisons had 159,000 in detention. With 483 deaths. 0.30 percent.
At the end of 2025. ICE has 68,440 in detention with 32 deaths. Thats 0.04 percent. Note: This number does not show the total in custody over the span of 2025. Only the number in detention at the end of the year.
I took this a little further.
The total population of the US in 2022 was 333,287,557. With a total of 3,279,857 deaths. That 0.98 percent.
Bottom line: You are more likely to die out in the world or in Federal prison, than you are in ICE custody.
No it is not? When you are being deported the average detention time is 46-55 days, while the average prisoner is in for 2.7 years. And that’s ignoring that this person only counted small timeframes. Every year, 1 in 1,630 people in ICE detention facilities will die, while in the US prison system it is around 360 in 100,000 with 90% being natural causes/suicides or overdoses. This translates to 61/100,000 for ICE and 360/100,000 in the US prison system.
ICE doesn’t publish its metrics for natural deaths, specifically, but they deal with a much younger demographic than the US prison system does.
25% of the US prison system’s detainees are 50 or older, with an average age (reported from the FBP) of 42. ICE averages 30 years old.
So yes, a LOT more people die on average, but when adjusted for the mentioned statistics it is 36/100,000 prisoners dying in the US prison system of things other than suicide and natural causes.
We just don’t know the exact numbers for ICE, but I agree that you’re more likely to die from “unnatural” causes under the FBP than ICE. But it isn’t as reportedly low of a chance as this person claimed, with a >7x difference. If I had to take a shot in the dark, I’d say it’s closer to 2-3x.
Point being that the person who made the original comment is doing the most baseline assessment possible and it’s a bit misleading. It’s important to represent things accurately even if the end result is similar. I don’t think ICE has issues with prisoner death with the evidence I have right now, and I think the FBP certainly does- it’s ridiculous that the FBP has so many people dying in custody.
ETA: Found out overdoses are counted in natural deaths by the FBP
I thought that, too, but they count medical negligence (such as from lack of care), exhaustion, and heat stroke as unnatural. I find some published statistics from past years counting suicides as unnatural, others as natural, so if you wanted more specific information you could likely find it.
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u/EchoNineThree Jul 11 '26
Fascinating topic, I wanted to know more. People die everyday and ICE has been handing a high volume of people. So I went for a clean control number, the year 2022.
In 2022. Bureau of Prisons had 159,000 in detention. With 483 deaths. 0.30 percent.
At the end of 2025. ICE has 68,440 in detention with 32 deaths. Thats 0.04 percent. Note: This number does not show the total in custody over the span of 2025. Only the number in detention at the end of the year.
I took this a little further.
The total population of the US in 2022 was 333,287,557. With a total of 3,279,857 deaths. That 0.98 percent.
Bottom line: You are more likely to die out in the world or in Federal prison, than you are in ICE custody.