More than 40 recent deaths due to ICE
Update Feb 2026: Immigration Agents Used Banned Chokeholds 40 times
- Chokeholds: We found over 40 cases of agents using chokeholds and other moves that can block breathing.
- Former Police Are Appalled: We showed former police and immigration officials videos of incidents. They said agents are out of control. One said it’s “the kind of action which should get you fired.”
- Banned Tactics, No Punishment: There is a federal ban on chokeholds and similar tactics. But there is no sign of punishment for officers who’ve used them.
- DHS formally banned chokeholds and other tactics in 2023; it was merely codifying the norm
Perplexity AI Jan 2026
There is no authoritative national count for “deaths due to undocumented immigrants” over the last six months, and available federal and state crime datasets do not break homicides down in a way that would let anyone reliably compute such a number for that specific population in that short time window. In contrast, there are reasonably good tallies for deaths involving ICE over roughly the same recent period, especially for deaths in ICE detention. etcjournal
What we can and cannot know
- Criminal justice data in the U.S. generally does not systematically record immigration status of offenders or victims, and when it does (for example, in Texas), it is reported in multi‑year aggregates, not “last six months.” etcjournal
- Studies looking where immigration status is known consistently find that undocumented immigrants have lower rates of criminal conviction, including homicide, than U.S.‑born citizens, but they do not list “how many people died due to undocumented immigrants in the last six months.” cato
Because of that, any numerical claim you see for “deaths caused by undocumented immigrants in the last six months” is almost certainly a rough estimate or a political talking point, not a verified statistic.
Recent deaths involving ICE (custody and field)
For ICE and related immigration enforcement, there are several overlapping but more concrete sources:
- At least 30 people died in ICE detention during the 2025 calendar year, the highest in more than two decades. wola
- A running count covering July 2025–January 28, 2026 reports 35 deaths in ICE detention during that ~7‑month span, plus at least 8 people killed or caused to die in ICE or Border Patrol field operations during the same period. prospect
- Other reporting similarly notes that 2025 was one of the deadliest years for people in ICE custody in the last twenty years, with around 30–32 deaths reported, depending on whether independent outlets include a few additional cases beyond ICE’s official tally. npr
- Separate tracking of shootings by immigration agents during the current administration reports at least 30 shootings since January 20, 2025, resulting in 8 deaths; this count includes both ICE and CBP, and at least some of those killed were U.S. citizens. themarshallproject
Approximate six‑month window
Your “recent (6 months)” window overlaps with the period July 2025–January 2026. For that span, the best available concrete numbers are:
- Deaths in ICE detention (July 2025–late January 2026): about 35 known deaths. en.wikipedia
- Deaths from ICE or related immigration field operations (shootings, etc., July 2025–late January 2026): at least 8 deaths, some of them U.S. citizens. en.wikipedia
So for ICE‑related deaths in roughly the last six–seven months, you are looking at on the order of 40–45 deaths (most in detention, some in the field), acknowledging that these are minimum counts based on disclosed and reported cases. statista
Direct answer to your comparison
- Deaths “due to undocumented immigrants,” last six months: No reliable nationwide figure exists; crime and homicide data are not reported in a way that would let anyone calculate this precisely for that population and timeframe. cato
- Deaths “due to ICE,” last six months: Available reporting suggests at least ~35 deaths in ICE detention plus ~8 deaths in ICE/CBP field encounters between about July 2025 and late January 2026, for a minimum of roughly 40–45 deaths linked to ICE custody or operations in that recent window. wola
Note: ICE releases critically ill or dying detainees from custody immediately before death,
thereby exempting the agency from mandatory reporting requirements, investigation procedures, and financial obligations.
Note: Unknown # of deaths of undocumented people who had been reported
Texas Homicide convictions: 19X more by Americans than undocumented immigrants - 2022
1,209 (90.5%) were native-born Americans
67 (5%) were undocumented immigrants (only slightly more than legals)
60 (4.5%) were legal immigrants