Detention Statistics
ERO oversees the civil immigration detention of one of the most diverse and rapidly changing detained populations in the world. It houses noncitizens in approximately 190 facilities across the nation and its territories. The ERO Headquarters Custody Management and ICE Health Service Corps divisions help officers in the field manage the detained population and ensure detained noncitizens’ health and safety, ensure compliance with ICE’s detention standards, and provide medical care — including mental health care — to detained individuals.
ICE detains individuals as necessary, including to secure their presence for immigration proceedings and removal from the United States. ICE also detains those who are subject to mandatory detention under U.S. immigration law and those a supervisor has determined are public safety or flight risks.
After ICE arrests and processes individuals for administrative immigration violations or CBP and other state, local and federal law enforcement partners turn them over to ICE, officials may detain them while their immigration cases are pending or release them under a form of supervision. Both ICE and the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review — the office that oversees the immigration court system — can impact custody status at various points during a noncitizen’s immigration proceedings.
Officials make custody determinations on an individual basis, taking into account all facets of a person’s situation, including their immigration history and criminal records. Authorities also consider family ties, humanitarian issues and whether a person may be a flight risk.
ICE is committed to ensuring that all noncitizens in detention reside in safe, secure and humane environments under appropriate conditions of confinement. As of December 31, 2023, ICE used 190 facilities, excluding hold rooms and hospitals, across the United States and its territories to detain individuals, including five ICE-owned Service Processing Centers, four ICE staging facilities, 13 ICE contract detention facilities, 25 ICE dedicated Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) facilities, 57 non-dedicated ICE IGSAs, 84 United States Marshals Service Intergovernmental Agreements and contracts and two Federal Bureau of Prisons institutions. In recent years, Congress has funded ICE to house an average daily detained population of 34,000.
Whenever possible, ICE seeks to house detained individuals within the geographical areas of their arrests to minimize their time in ICE custody and keep them close to family, friends and legal representatives.
Most detained individuals are transfers from CBP following arrests at the border. ICE is legally obligated to detain some of these people, including those with certain criminal histories.
If a noncitizen or their representative believes they should not be subject to enforcement, detention or removal, they should contact their local ERO field office to request a case review or initiate the ICE Case Review process. People who want to contact ICE about their cases should first notify their local ERO field office via email with supporting documentation for an initial review.
- Detention by country of citizenship and criminal history: Detained individuals are categorized in the following ways:
- Individuals with criminal convictions.
- Individuals with pending criminal charges.
- Those with no convictions or pending charges but who have broken U.S. immigration laws.*
*The third category includes individuals without any known criminal convictions or pending charges who have repeatedly violated U.S. law by reentering after deportation; immigration fugitives with a final order of removal by an immigration judge; and foreign fugitives wanted for crimes committed abroad.
- Detention over time: Most detained individuals are transfers from CBP following arrests made at the border. Higher numbers of border crossings are typically associated with higher detention numbers.
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