2025 was ICE’s deadliest year in two decades. More than 30 people died in ICE custody last year – and that’s adding to the hundreds who died in custody in other parts of our justice system.

Deaths in custody are both a public health emergency and a moral failure, full stop. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General released a report about a series of operational failures that may have caused 200 suicides by people who were incarcerated – showing a fundamental failure in the justice system in protecting these folks’ lives.

Instead of responding to that report by working to reduce deaths in custody, the coverup has expanded. With more and deadlier ICE facilities being built, we need transparency around these deaths. That’s why our coalition is calling on the CDC to add a checkbox for deaths in custody, allowing our public health experts to truly evaluate the scale of this crisis.

This administration must push to amending U.S. death certificates to account for deaths in custody, building transparency and accountability throughout our criminal legal system.

Petition text:

For decades, we’ve known that our criminal justice system hasn’t been fair or just for Black, Brown, and Indigenous people – including underreporting the deaths of our community members in custody. After 2025 was the deadliest year for ICE in decades, it’s clear that the problem is only getting worse.

According to a 2022 report by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, almost 200 suicides occurred on the watch of our officials, which could have been prevented.

That’s why I’m echoing calls by public health experts and advocates to have the CDC add a checkbox for deaths in custody, allowing our public health experts to truly evaluate the scale of this crisis.

This administration must push to amending U.S. death certificates to account for deaths in custody, building transparency and accountability throughout our criminal legal system.