The rate of immigration detainee deaths has doubled since President Trump took office, according to a new report.
Reuters noted that from 2009 through 2024, the death rate was 1 for every 3,848 detainees annually. It has accelerated to one death for every 1,630 detainees since Trump took office.
The outlet based its findings on information from the Deportation Data Project that was obtained through a public records request processed by the Vera Institute of Justice.
The findings come after a recent federal report that found mismanagement, poor conditions, and wasteful spending at Camp East Montana.
Among the findings by the Government Accountability Office was the handling of asphyxia death in February that had been ruled a homicide. According to the GAO, information and evidence associated with that case is missing.
"However, the contractor did not provide use of force and death reports to ICE, as required. In addition, evidence associated with the incident was missing or destroyed," the GAO report found.
The report documented several issues with its operations, including:
- Inadequate tuberculosis screening procedures
- Problematic health assessments that resulted in detainees with chronic conditions not receiving treatment and care in accordance with National Detention Standards. For example, none of the detained noncitizens with diabetes or HIV had treatment plans in place.
- In January, a contract security guard at Camp East Montana lost their loaded firearm at the facility. It has not been found.
- Some of the detainee dormitories are not cleaned daily, as required. Rather, these dormitories were cleaned weekly, resulting in unsanitary conditions.
"ICE began housing detained noncitizens without meeting key detention standards and without undergoing a required pre-occupancy inspection," the report stated. "ICE risks failing to meet legal and policy-based obligations to maintain a safe and secure environment for detained noncitizens, ICE employees, and contractors, and to treat detained noncitizens humanely in those facilities."
Reuters reported that the detainee population swelled from around 40,000 at the time Biden left office to a high of more than 70,000 early this year. The number has fallen to about 57,000 as of June.
There have been 50 deaths in the U.S. detention facilities around the country in Trump's second term. Of those 50 deaths, 21 were instances where a detainee was found unresponsive. Ten of those are believed to be suicides. Another 16 deaths were attributed to heart attacks and heart disease issues.
Chanelle Diaz, an assistant professor of medicine at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told Reuters that imprisoning someone who was chronically ill would likely lead more deaths.
"The system is not designed for chronic-care management," Diaz told the wire service.
