About This Project
Immigration detention in the United States is vast, complex, and often difficult to understand. ICE publishes detailed statistics, but those numbers are frequently buried in spreadsheets with little context. This project aims to make those figures easier to interpret and explore — whether you're a researcher, journalist, policymaker, advocate, or curious member of the public.
What's Included
The main dashboard presents:
- The number of people detained by ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) each month
- Criminality classifications (e.g., convicted, pending charges, non-criminal)
- Facility-level data, including population breakdowns and average length of stay
- Geographic trends and comparisons by state
- Year-over-year comparisons across FY24, FY25, and FY26 including Alternatives to Detention (ATD) and bond statistics
All visualizations are updated using ICE's biweekly dataset, available on ice.gov.
Data Preparation
All data used on this site is:
- Publicly available
- Cleaned and organized to enhance readability
- Not altered beyond formatting, standardization, and restructuring
The source files come directly from ICE's Detention Management reporting. The visualizations do not change or reinterpret the numbers — they only display them in an accessible format.
DetentionStats.com is not affiliated with or endorsed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or any government agency. This project was developed independently for educational and public interest purposes.
About This Dashboard
DetentionStats.com visualizes data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on individuals detained in the United States. The dashboard is updated biweekly and reflects data as published in ICE's Detention Management Statistics spreadsheets.
What This Data Represents
- This dashboard aggregates data by state where detention facilities are located
- It does not reflect where individuals were arrested, where they lived, or their country of origin
- All information is sourced directly from ICE's Detention Stats files, publicly available at ICE.gov
- Data cleaning and processing scripts are available upon request for transparency
Key Terminology
- Convicted / Convicted Criminal — A noncitizen who has been convicted in a court of law for a criminal offense, regardless of whether they are currently serving a sentence
- Pending / Pending Criminal Charges — A noncitizen with one or more criminal charges currently pending adjudication in a U.S. court
- Other Immigration Violator — A noncitizen without a known criminal conviction or pending charge, typically detained for administrative or immigration violations (e.g., unauthorized entry, visa overstay)
- Currently Detained — The number of individuals held in ICE custody on the date of data collection
- ALOS (Average Length of Stay) — The average number of days individuals remain in ICE custody during the reporting period
Timeline and Reporting Period
- ICE reports its data according to the U.S. Fiscal Year (FY), which runs October 1 – September 30
- The current reporting period is FY2026 (October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026)
- Month filters in this dashboard follow fiscal year order (Oct → Sep)
Agencies Involved
This dashboard includes data from two federal agencies that carry out immigration enforcement operations under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
ICE — Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Primary Role: Detains noncitizens already inside the United States, often after an immigration court hearing or local law enforcement referral
- Funding: ICE receives federal appropriations to operate detention facilities, contract with private operators, and fund removal operations
- Detention Data: The majority of detainees in ICE custody fall under ICE's direct supervision, including facilities run by ICE or through agreements with state, local, or private contractors
CBP — Customs and Border Protection
- Primary Role: Conducts immigration enforcement at ports of entry and along the border; often detains individuals at or shortly after entry
- Funding: CBP is funded to operate short-term holding facilities and conduct border operations; detainees may be temporarily held before transfer to ICE custody
- Detention Data: This dashboard includes CBP detention counts for comparative purposes, but most long-term detentions are managed by ICE
Funding Context
Both agencies operate on publicly appropriated tax dollars, with budgets authorized by Congress. Funding levels changed significantly following the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in July 2025, which directed an unprecedented level of resources to DHS immigration enforcement.
- Prior to the OBBBA, ICE's annual budget was approximately $8 billion, with around $3 billion dedicated to custody operations (FY2024)
- The OBBBA allocated $45 billion for ICE detention expansion over four years — an additional $11.25 billion per year — bringing ICE's total detention budget in FY2025 to over $14 billion, more than 400% greater than FY2024 detention funding
- Through February 2026, ICE had been apportioned approximately $33 billion in OBBBA funds, with monthly outlays rising from ~$800 million to ~$1.7 billion following the bill's enactment
- CBP received approximately $56 billion in OBBBA apportionments, with the majority allocated to border wall construction and infrastructure
- ICE's effective detention budget now exceeds the entire Department of Justice budget for the federal prison system, which holds over 155,000 inmates
Funding figures reflect a combination of baseline appropriations and OBBBA reconciliation allocations. Figures are sourced from OMB apportionment data, DHS congressional budget justifications, and independent policy analysis. The FY2026 appropriations process was ongoing at the time of last update.
Acronym & Term Glossary
OBBBA
One Big Beautiful Bill Act — a budget reconciliation law enacted July 4, 2025, that directed approximately $191 billion to DHS immigration enforcement, including $45 billion specifically for ICE detention expansion over four years.
ICE
Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the federal agency primarily responsible for interior immigration enforcement and detention.
CBP
Customs and Border Protection — the federal agency responsible for border enforcement and short-term detention at ports of entry.
DHS
Department of Homeland Security — the cabinet department that oversees both ICE and CBP.
ATD
Alternatives to Detention — supervision programs (e.g., ankle monitors, SmartLINK check-ins) used as non-custodial alternatives to physical detention.
ALOS
Average Length of Stay — the mean number of days a detainee remains in custody during a reporting period.
ALIP
Average Length in Program — the mean number of days a participant has been enrolled in an ATD supervision program.
ADP
Average Daily Population — the average number of individuals held in detention on any given day within a reporting period.
AOR
Area of Responsibility — geographic regions used by ICE to organize enforcement and supervision operations across the U.S.
FY
Fiscal Year — the U.S. government's accounting year, running October 1 through September 30. FY26 = October 2025 – September 2026.
YTD
Year to Date — data accumulated from the start of the current fiscal year through the most recent reporting date.
FAMU
Family Unit — a case classification used by ICE for individuals detained as part of a family group.
SmartLINK
A mobile app-based ATD supervision technology requiring regular check-ins via facial recognition, used as an alternative to physical detention.
SPC / STAGING / BOP / DOD
Facility type classifications used to distinguish public facilities (Service Processing Centers, staging facilities, Bureau of Prisons, and Department of Defense) from privately contracted detention facilities.
YoY
Year-over-Year — a comparison of data across multiple fiscal years to identify trends over time.