TL;DR: ICE detention inspections dropped 36% in 2025, the same year deaths hit a 20-year high. 32 people died in custody while Congress-mandated inspections went unfulfilled. Then DHS eliminated three oversight agencies entirely: the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman. The message is clear: as detention expands to record levels, no one is watching what happens inside.
The Numbers Don't Lie
According to an analysis by the Project On Government Oversight and American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop [1]:
- 36.25% drop in ICE detention facility inspection reports in 2025
- 78% increase in detention population (68,440 as of mid-December 2025)
- 32 deaths in ICE custody in 2025, the most since 2004
- 59 new facilities added in 2025
- 77 facilities reopened after being shuttered
More people. More facilities. Fewer inspections. More deaths.
Congress Said Inspect. ICE Said No.
In 2019, Congress passed a law requiring ICE's Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) to inspect facilities twice per year. Not a suggestion, a mandate. They even appropriated $6.9 million to cover the costs [1].
For a few years, it worked. ODO published more inspection reports after the mandate.
Then 2025 happened. Despite no change in congressional requirements, inspections collapsed. The law didn't change. ICE just stopped following it.
The excuse? They don't give one.
What Inspections Actually Found
When inspectors did visit facilities, they found serious problems [2]:
- Krome North: 14 violations including overcrowding, people sleeping on floors without bedding, staff failures to offer food to people held over 6 hours
- Fort Bliss (Camp East Montana): Dozens of violations in the first month: sexual abuse allegations, overcrowding, inadequate food
- Multiple facilities: Inadequate medical care, mental health services, racist abuse, extreme temperatures, poor air quality
These are the problems they found when they bothered to look. What's happening in facilities that haven't been inspected?
Three Oversight Agencies, Dissolved
If fewer inspections weren't enough, the administration went further. Three oversight agencies were eliminated [3]:
OIDO: Gone
The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, created to investigate complaints from detainees and their families, was dissolved in March 2025.
CRCL: Gone
The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which investigated civil rights violations in detention, was targeted for elimination.
CIS Ombudsman: Gone
The Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, which helped resolve immigration case problems, was also dissolved.
Plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit in May 2025 to stop the dissolution. The case continues, but the offices have already stopped functioning.
Congress Blocked From Inspecting
It's not just internal oversight. Members of Congress have been prohibited from conducting lawful inspections of detention facilities [2].
The people who fund these facilities with taxpayer money can't see what's happening inside. The system is designed to operate without witnesses.
"An Invitation to Lethality"
Andrew Free, a lawyer who founded the #DetentionKills project, told POGO that the drop in oversight is "an invitation" to increased lethality in detention [1].
The math is simple:
- No inspections = no documented violations
- No documented violations = no accountability
- No accountability = no incentive to provide adequate care
- Inadequate care = preventable deaths
The ACLU found that 95% of ICE detention deaths between 2017-2021 were preventable with adequate medical care. Nothing about the current system suggests that ratio has improved.
What's Happening Without Oversight
Reports from inside facilities describe [2]:
- Overcrowding with people sleeping on floors
- Low amounts of food, sometimes expired
- Poor air quality and lack of clean water
- Extreme temperatures
- Inadequate bedding
- Denied medications and ignored medical emergencies
- Sexual abuse allegations
- Racist abuse from staff
Four more people died in the first 10 days of January 2026. Their names: Parady La, Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Luis Gustavo Nunes.
What You Can Do
Contact Your Representatives
Congress mandated inspections. ICE isn't complying. Demand your representatives hold ICE accountable for ignoring the law they passed.
Support Detention Watch Network
DWN tracks deaths, conditions, and violations across the detention system. They need resources to continue this work when official oversight has collapsed.
Document Everything
If you have contact with someone in detention, document their treatment. These records may be the only oversight that exists.
Follow the Legal Challenges
The lawsuit against dissolving oversight offices is ongoing. Support organizations like the ACLU that are fighting in court.
References
- Project On Government Oversight - ICE Inspections Plummeted as Detentions Soared in 2025 (January 2026)
- American Immigration Council - Immigration Detention Expansion in Trump's Second Term (January 2026)
- Detention Watch Network - 4 ICE Detention Deaths in Just 10 Days (January 2026)
- GAO - Immigration Detention: DHS Should Define Goals and Measures (2025)