ICE detention statistics show a system operating at record scale: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement held more than 68,000 people in civil immigration custody as of early 2026, peaking near 73,000 in mid-January 2026. That is roughly double the population at the start of 2025 and well above the prior fiscal year’s funded capacity of about 41,500 beds. Around 73.6% of those detained have no criminal conviction, and the government spends an average of $187.48 per adult per day to hold them.
How the Detained Population Has Grown
In early 2025, ICE held roughly 38,000 to 39,000 people on any given day. By December 2025 the number had climbed past 68,000, and by mid-January 2026 it exceeded 73,000, the highest level in the agency’s history. The growth was driven by an increase in Enforcement and Removal Operations arrests, both at the border and in the interior, with bookings outpacing removals and releases.
The FY 2026 budget request contemplates continued expansion, with a proposal to eventually raise capacity to 92,600 beds. ICE publishes updated snapshots roughly every two weeks through its Enforcement and Removal Operations statistics dashboard.
Who Is Actually in ICE Custody
The most persistent misreading of ICE detention statistics is the assumption that most detainees have serious criminal records. As of February 2026, about 50,000 of the 68,000 people in custody, or 73.6%, had no criminal conviction at all. They are held solely on civil immigration violations such as overstaying a visa or entering without inspection. The remaining roughly 26% includes people with convictions ranging from minor offenses to serious felonies, along with individuals facing pending charges.
Demographics
The population skews heavily male. When ICE regularly published gender breakdowns before 2025, men made up 85% to 94% of detainees. The typical person in custody is relatively young, with a median age around 30 in historical reporting. Mexican nationals have long been the single largest group, followed by people from Guatemala and Honduras, with growing numbers in recent years from Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Haiti, and countries outside the Western Hemisphere.
Children and Pregnant Detainees
Although the system is primarily an adult one, ICE held an average of roughly 170 children per day in 2025 based on reporting from government data, with peaks sometimes exceeding 400. Thousands of children were booked into custody over the course of the year. Unaccompanied minors are supposed to move to the Office of Refugee Resettlement within 72 hours, but children arriving with a parent may be held together in family residential centers such as those in Dilley and Karnes City, Texas. The Flores Agreement generally caps child detention at 20 days.
A Department of Homeland Security report disclosed that as of mid-February 2026, 121 people who were pregnant, postpartum, or nursing were in active ICE custody, including nine in their third trimester.
Where People Are Held
ICE runs very few of its own detention beds. Nearly 90% of detainees are housed in facilities operated by private prison companies, primarily CoreCivic and The GEO Group, or in county jails that contract with the agency. The remainder sits in ICE-owned Service Processing Centers.
The facility network stretches across more than 30 states and territories, from New Jersey and Pennsylvania to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, with the largest concentrations in Texas, Louisiana, California, Arizona, and Georgia.1U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Detention Facilities By the end of 2025, the total number of facilities in use had grown substantially compared with the start of the year as ICE activated new contracts and expanded existing agreements.
County jails participate through Intergovernmental Service Agreements that pay a daily rate per detainee. Those rates range from roughly $30 to over $200 per day depending on the facility and jurisdiction. Private detention centers operate under similar per-diem contracts. The heavy reliance on contractors and local jails lets the system scale up quickly, but it produces uneven conditions and oversight across facilities.
What Detention Costs
Detention is the most expensive line in immigration enforcement. The FY 2026 President’s Budget requested about $6.25 billion for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, with $4.18 billion dedicated to custody operations, the account that funds beds, guards, food, medical care, and transportation.2Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Congressional Justification Fiscal Year 2026 That number likely understates real spending, because the detained population has consistently exceeded funded bed counts, pushing ICE to reprogram funds or seek supplemental appropriations.
On a per-person basis, ICE spent an average of $187.48 per adult per day in FY 2023, the most recent year with confirmed cost data. Daily rates vary by facility type. Service Processing Centers tend to cost more per bed than contracted private facilities, and county jail per-diems range from under $50 to over $200. With both the population and per-diem rates rising, total detention spending in FY 2025 and FY 2026 will meaningfully exceed historical levels.
Alternatives to Detention Cost Comparison
Physical custody runs about $152 per person per day, while ICE’s Alternatives to Detention program costs less than $4.20 per person per day.3U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Alternatives to Detention Through October 2024, more than 179,000 people were enrolled in the program’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program. Despite the cost gap, the FY 2026 budget request allocates roughly $4.2 billion to custody operations against $486 million for ATD.2Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Congressional Justification Fiscal Year 2026
How Long People Stay
Average length of stay has historically fluctuated between roughly 45 and 55 days, but that average hides wide variation. Someone granted bond at a first hearing may be out within weeks. A person in mandatory detention fighting a removal order through administrative appeals can spend months or years in custody. Bond, when available, starts at a statutory minimum of $1,500 but typically runs $7,000 to $10,000 or higher.
Detainees fighting cases without a lawyer face far worse odds. As of mid-2025, about 44% of detained people in immigration court had no attorney. On the non-detained docket the representation gap is wider, with roughly two-thirds of respondents unrepresented. Immigration proceedings are civil, so there is no government-appointed counsel for those who cannot afford one. Represented immigrants consistently win bond and relief at higher rates than those who go it alone.
Oversight Findings and Deaths in Custody
ICE detention facilities operate under national detention standards covering medical care, legal access, grievance procedures, and use of force. Written medical standards require a screening at intake, a comprehensive health assessment within 14 days, daily sick call access, and 24-hour emergency medical services.4U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE Detention Standards – Medical Care
Compliance is a different matter. The DHS Office of Inspector General conducts unannounced inspections and regularly documents failures. A September 2025 inspection of the Eloy Federal Contract Facility in Arizona found that staff failed to preserve video of use-of-force incidents, did not respond to detainee requests in a language they could understand in more than half of sampled cases, provided inadequate legal research resources, and maintained unclean showers.5DHS Office of Inspector General. Results of an Unannounced Inspection of ICE’s Eloy Federal Contract Facility Similar patterns have appeared in OIG reports on other facilities for years.
ICE’s death reporting page lists 24 deaths during FY 2025 (October 2024 through September 2025) and 14 additional deaths in the first months of FY 2026 (October 2025 through early January 2026).6U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Detainee Death Reporting The FY 2025 total is the highest annual count seen in over two decades. Causes have historically included medical emergencies, suicide, and complications from inadequate care, and are not always disclosed promptly. The rising death toll has tracked the expansion of the detained population and the strain on medical resources across a more crowded system.