Deaths in immigration custody are at record levels, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been scaling back the amount of information it releases about them. That’s why we filed two new lawsuits this week. We need to know what is happening, how officials are responding, and whether more could have been done to prevent these deaths.
Until late last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) routinely published detailed reports on deaths in its custody. In December, it replaced those reports with brief summaries that omit many key details. That makes it harder for families, oversight bodies, and the public to understand the circumstances surrounding these deaths and to evaluate whether the government is responding appropriately.
Our first lawsuit, against ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), seeks records about individuals who have died in immigration custody since the start of Trump’s second term. We asked for detainee death reviews, incident reports, root cause analyses, and other records that could shed light on the fatalities.
Our second lawsuit, against DHS and CBP, is seeking records regarding the agencies’ policies, procedures, and oversight activities related to deaths in immigration custody, including records about government watchdogs and the status of investigations they conducted.
“Families deserve answers about what happened to their loved ones, and the public deserves to know whether the government is taking meaningful steps to address the conditions and failures that contribute to deaths in custody,” said our Executive Director Chioma Chukwu.
