Many people have died during the first year of Trump’s second term. A majority of them have been people of color. Here’s a brief summary.
Thiry-two people died in ICE detention centers in 2025. At least seven of them died in the first 100 days of the administration.
Three people died in accidents while running from ICE raids.
Various reports suggest that cuts to international aid caused up to 14 million deaths globally.
Last year, more than 100,000 Americans were killed by gun violence.
Reports indicate that there have been at least 115 deaths in more than 35 boat strikes off Venezuelan waters between September 2025 and January 2026. So far, the administration has provided little evidence that the targeted vessels were carrying drugs, or that all victims were involved in drug trafficking.
Venezuelan officials report that approximately 100 Venezuelans were killed during the U.S. operation to capture Maduro. During Trump’s press conference after Maduro’s capture, no mention was made of those deaths. The only mention of death was when Trump stated that no Americans were killed, and only two Americans were injured.
Just last week, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. Two people were injured, one seriously, by federal officers in Portland, Oregon, the day after the Minneapolis shooting.
Trump has been deeply disturbed by White South Africans being killed but has not expressed that same outrage about the Black people who have been murdered in South Africa and other nations.
Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has painted over Black Lives Matter murals and scrubbed stories about Navajo Code Talkers from museums in yet another effort to erase non-White history. He has removed Black historical figures from national websites; signed an executive order attacking the National Museum of African American History; rolled back DEI initiatives; and reinstalled Confederate memorials that had been removed.
Trump has called Somali immigrants “garbage,” and said, “We don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from.” He has continued to seal the country to refugees around the world, reserving only a limited number of slots for White South Africans. (He has also stated that he wishes more White people from Denmark would immigrate to the U.S. rather than the current “garbage” who are here. That wish is unlikely to be realized given Trump’s obsession with taking over Greenland.)
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Trump stated that the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 led to white people being treated “very badly.” In response, NAACP President Derrick Johnson stated that there is no evidence that White people have been discriminated against as a result of the civil rights movement.
Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has a history of political extremism. He was the architect of family separations at the border. His leaked emails shared white nationalist talking points. And his former work in government has consistently targeted people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ Americans.
When conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered in that horrific incident, Miller, Vance, and Trump pronounced that anyone who repeated Kirk’s very own words which many would interpret as racist or sexist should be called out. Their employers should fire them immediately. Some employers took those demands seriously and several employees lost their jobs.
Contrast the casualness of minority deaths with the outcry over White deaths with the kind of recruitment that is going on right now for more ICE agents. When the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed, it included almost $75 billion extra for ICE agents, making ICE the largest law enforcement agency in the country, outstripping even the FBI.
To meet its hiring targets, ICE has removed age restrictions and cut the training time in half. It is also using some far-right websites in its recruiting efforts. Scholars have connected some of the recruiting to Proud Boy rhetoric as well.
Keep in mind that the majority of ICE arrestees do not have criminal records. Only roughly eight percent of them have been convicted of a crime. Many critics say that the current ICE recruitment strategy uses violent video game metaphors, encourages extremism and racist indoctrination, and suggests that ICE will make America different than what it currently is. In essence it presents the new America as a violent but White place.
Martin Luther King once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
The casual collateral damage rhetoric that surfaces from this Administration when people of color are killed or treated with cruelty and no due process will result in severe consequences. This mindset impacts international relations, domestic stability, and societal well-being.
Actions to curtail the current momentum have never been more important. Ensuring that voters are informed about current threats to our democracy and mobilizing as many as possible to vote this November will make a difference. Act now.
Maria Grant, formerly principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm, now focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.
Wilson Dean says
This article effectively documents the pro-white racist policies of the Trump Administration. For those of us who grew up seeing the humanizing benefits of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and the improvements that have followed, this is a bitter pill to swallow. Every one of the steps Trump takes to achieve his fascist-like objectives needs to be called out and challenged.
Maria Grant says
Wilson, thanks for your comment. I agree that we need to continue to call out these actions.
Chip Heartfield says
You may want to double-check your facts and numbers. For example, according to the Gun Violence Archive, shooting deaths plummeted and are LOWER than in any year since 2015. Even with suicides added, the total is approx 43,000…nowhere near 100,000: https://www.thetrace.org/2025/12/data-shooting-stats-gun-violence-america/. And, the number of estimated deaths that MAY occur from aid cuts has been put at 14 million over FIVE YEARS, not in 2025 alone: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2jjpm7zv8o. The $75 billion for ICE includes $45 billion for expanding facilities and adding beds; the rest will go to hiring 10,000 new agents, which will over the next few years bring ICE to a workforce of about 30,000, up from the current 20,000. The FBI, by contrast, has a work force of 38,000 – so ICE will NOT become the largest law enforcement agency. Finally, according to NPR in December, “President Trump has repeatedly said that in enforcing immigration policy, he would deport criminals, rapists and the worst of the worst. But new data reveals that in the first nine months of the president’s second term, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 74,000 people with no criminal record. That’s more than a third of the total ICE arrests in that period. Those numbers were provided by ICE to the Deportation Data Project, a joint initiative of UCLA and UC Berkeley Law and analyzed by NPR.” Not sure where you got your figure of 92% with no record! Anyway, we all need to be more careful and do the required research – multiple and varied sources, not just a few all of the same slant, when trying to build or support a position with facts and numbers.
Maria Grant says
Chip, thanks for your data check. My article stresses the particular people that this Administration is focused on. I did significant research on the information I provided in my article. We can argue about the slant of the numbers I doubt that you can argue about the focus of this administration, or the questionable tactics that ICE is currently employing.
Chip Heartfield says
Maria, apologies, but I have no idea what “slanted” numbers are? I will reiterate that it is critical to anyone’s efforts to persuade that they provide accurate facts and numbers (or just go with plain rhetoric and hope they are sufficiently articulate to be persuasive). As an example, I’d appreciate knowing your source for the statement that 100,000 Americans were killed by gun violence last year – that is more than double the number that I can find being reported by advocacy groups on both sides of the issue and by the government? And as I noted, you misread or misunderstood the Lancet report about those who might be affected by international aid cuts: that did not cause – past tense – 14 million deaths as you stated; rather it MAY cause that many over the next five years if nothing else changes (such as other countries stepping up or the US adding back some of that funding). In fact, I AGREE with you that would be an awful tragedy; all I did was point out the mistake in reporting this information and I guess you assumed that meant I somehow was ok with it! Anyway, it remains my view that, too often, folks on both sides try to persuade using faulty numbers. All that does is contribute to the spread of mis- and disinformation and when exposed, undermine the argument they are trying to make. A coherent, reasoned, factually-accurate position on a topic is far more effective – I think/hope we can all agree on that!
Maria Grant says
Chip, I agree that is important to report factual information correctly. In terms of the 14 million people affected by the dismantling of USAID you are right that there is a time span there that is more than a year. My statement was globally but I did not include the additional time frame. Having said that, I have also read several articles that the damage could be much worse than that given the loss of good will, preventative care, HIV issues and more. So I should have included the time frame. With the gun violence issue, please keep in mind that I did not say Trump was responsible for that (although his lack of supporting any gun control legislation is an issue). Some reports include suicides in the data, others do not. Some include people who died that included gun shots but may not have only been the principal issue. I agree with you that fact checking is important. I spend a lot of time researching. I will continue to ensure that my facts are accurate and include qualifiers when necessary.
darrell parsons says
Thank you for detailing this.
James Wilson says
“Trump says civil rights led to white people being “very badly treated.” 😭😭😭😡 How can this man continue to say and act as a blatant racist and still get away with it? So sad.
Barbara Denton says
This letter is so ridiculous and full of left wing propaganda there is no way to respond to it.
Jim Bachman says
Yet, here you are.
Bob Kopec says
Trump & his father are known racists, being cited for repeated discriminating practices in their housing businesses. What Trump has unleashed in this country since he was allowed to take a second term despite the treasonous insurrection of his own making on Jan 6, 2021 when 5 people died, millions of dollars damage done to the Capital Building and during which Trump threatened to ‘hang Mike Pence, his VP.
Trump, The Peace President, as he calls himself has repeatedly suggested that he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize has bombed 7 countries in 2025 – Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria and recently Venezuela to grab that countries oil. Trump falsely claims to have ended 8 unnamed wars. Trump wants to be a ‘strongman’ like his idol Putin, the bloody invader of Ukraine who he favors instead of President Zelenskyy who he insults.
Trump often states that he ‘wants’ Greenland and would consider using military force to take it if necessary.
Trump has voiced invading Iraq to stop the killing of protesters by the regime there.
Who is going to help free the US of the Trump regime currently in power killing people in the US and the world?
The US democracy will not exist after 3 more years of this regime.
Maria Grant says
Bob, thanks for writing. I’m talking to more and more people who are incredibly worried about what will happen next. Many fear things may get worse before they get better.