ICE Posted, Then Deleted, Mortality Reviews Showing Neglect in Eight 2025 Detainee Deaths

ICE published mortality review documents for eight people who died in its custody in 2025 to its public reading room on September 25, 2026, then removed them four days later after a reporter's lawyer flagged the posting, The Intercept reported September 30. The eight reviews covered the deaths of Johnny Noviello, Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas, Marie Ange Blaise, Nhon Nguyen, Oscar Duarte Rascon, Santos Reyes Banegas, Tien Xuan Phan and Chaofeng Ge; the documents stayed accessible through internet archives after ICE pulled them. At least 56 people have died in ICE custody since the start of Trump's second term.

The reviews describe medical care outside experts called deficient. Dr. Katherine Peeler of Physicians for Human Rights called one case "a pretty egregiously managed care," and Stacy Suh of the Detention Watch Network said the records point to "rampant systemic medical abuse" in detention facilities. The brief posting, followed by removal, raises questions about whether ICE meant the reviews to be public at all or pulled them once outside scrutiny began.

ICE did not respond to The Intercept's request for comment on why the documents were removed. No agency statement has addressed the care failures the reviews describe.