Jay Jones joins AG coalition pushing ICE on deaths of recently released detainees

ICE quietly decided last month that it would no longer report the deaths of detainees who had been recently released from custody, with a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, issued after the policy change hit the news following reporting from the national media, calling the move “common sense.”

The Biden administration had instituted the now-shuttered policy in 2021, to ensure that the agency would be held accountable for releasing people who had become severely ill from custody, for probably obvious reasons.

“These systems of accountability exist to protect those who are most vulnerable, and I will not stand by while they get stripped away by those attempting to abuse their power,” Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said.

Jones’ office announced Monday that the AG has joined a coalition of 22 other attorneys general in urging the DHS and ICE to reverse the new policy.

The state AG coalition notes in a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting ICE Director David Venturell that public health professionals and elected officials have been prevented from conducting routine checks on ICE facilities, amid reports that detainees have reportedly been denied access to adequate medical care and placed in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

Since January 2025, there have been 51 detainee deaths in ICE custody; more than half of these deaths have occurred in just nine of the more than 220 active immigration detention facilities.

The ICE Office of Detention Oversight has determined that five of those nine facilities have deficient medical care.

ICE is required to comply with national detention standards, which direct detention facilities to conduct initial health screenings, provide necessary medical and mental health care, and maintain safe and sanitary conditions, including protecting detainees from unnecessary uses of force.

To ensure that individuals are provided with adequate care and medical attention during detention, Congress has required ICE to investigate and report deaths that occur during detention.

Under the policy implemented under the Biden administration, ICE directors could request reviews of the death of individuals who passed away within 30 days of being released from custody, and as a result, ICE frequently conducted investigations and prepared reports based on its findings following the death of a newly released detainee.

“With the disturbing rise in reports of abuse and death in ICE detention facilities in the recent months, transparency is more important now than ever,” Jones said. “This change in policy is an abhorrent attempt by ICE and the DHS to sidestep responsibility for their dangerous actions, and we won’t allow it. The public is demanding transparency and accountability, and as attorney general, that is exactly what I will fight for.”