The Behind Bars Data Project at UCLA School of Law has published the first comprehensive dataset of deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.
Working in partnership with lawyer and journalist Andrew Free, members of the project used ICE records to create a resource that offers researchers, journalists, advocates, policymakers and the public detailed insights on the nearly 300 people who have died in ICE custody since the agency's creation in 2003.
The compendium arrives at an important moment. More than 68,000 people were in custody as of February 2026, according to information provided on the dataset website. The dataset also reveals that 31 deaths in ICE custody in 2025, the highest number since 2004.
As noted on the dataset website, Congress has required that ICE notify the public of all deaths in custody within 48 hours. ICE must also release detailed reports on the circumstances leading up to each death. But these reports often wind up inconsistent and scattered across dozens of records. Therefore, the Behind Bars Data Project is the first to aggregate and systematize those records, originally compiled by Free, into a single, searchable resource covering more than two decades.
