'There Must Be Accountability,' Says WA Rep Jayapal in Response to 50+ ICE Detainee Deaths

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https://www.commondreams.org/news/jayapal-ice-deaths

‘There Must Be Accountability,’ Says Jayapal in Response to 50+ ICE Detainee Deaths

“This is unprecedented and further proof that ICE and their private, for-profit prison contractors should not be sent another cent of taxpayer dollars.”

BRETT WILKINS
Jun 08, 2026

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal on Monday demanded accountability for the Trump administration officials responsible for the “unprecedented” number of people who have died while detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term.

“Yesterday, I was notified of the 50th death in ICE custody since Trump returned to office,” Jayapal (D-Wash.)—the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement—said on social media. “This is unprecedented and further proof that ICE and their private, for-profit prison contractors should not be sent another cent of taxpayer dollars. There must be accountability.”

According to ICE’s public database, 51 people have died while detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency during Trump’s second term, including two people who were killed in a sniper attack on an ICE administrative and processing center in Dallas. At least 10 of the deaths were men who killed themselves, according to an Associated Press investigation published late last month.

ICE recently announced it would stop reporting the deaths of people recently released from ICE detention. The reporting policy, enacted in 2021, was meant to assure accountability and prevent the agency from offloading severely ill detainees.

Many of the deaths were preventable, say experts who point to systemic understaffing and DHS policy choices that weaken detainee care and employee oversight.

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