ICE Detention Suicides Hit 5 This Year as Average Stays Stretch to 50 Days
Updated
Updated · NBC News · May 21
ICE Detention Suicides Hit 5 This Year as Average Stays Stretch to 50 Days
15 articles · Updated · NBC News · May 21
Five suicides have been reported in ICE detention facilities so far in 2026, already the highest annual toll in two decades before midyear.
Nearly 60,000 people are now in ICE custody, up from about 34,000 under Biden, and average detention has lengthened to 50 days from 36 as release options narrow.
More than 1,000 emergency calls from six facilities included 28 serious self-harm incidents, with detainees swallowing razor blades, drinking chemicals and cutting their wrists.
Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, where the latest suicide occurred, had failed to complete suicide-prevention training and sometimes waited 125 minutes between required 15-minute checks.
DHS disputes any spike in deaths and says custody death rates remain 0.009%, even as inspections have fallen while detainee counts have doubled.
As deaths in private ICE facilities triple, who is held accountable for repeatedly failed safety standards?
With detention expanding into warehouses, can humane standards of care realistically be met and enforced?