Memo orders ICE to stop reporting deaths of newly released detainees

Acting director David Venturella rescinds Biden-era policy that required agency to report and investigate such deaths

A memo issued by acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director David Venturella has ordered the federal agency to cease reporting the deaths of newly released detainees, in a change that could obscure the full human cost of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration mass detention policies.

The move, first reported by the Washington Post, rescinds a 2021 policy implemented by the Biden administration that required ICE to report to Congress and investigate deaths of detainees that occur within 30 days of their release.