Immigration Detentions Jump 50% This Year Under Trump

(UNITED STATES) Immigration detentions have climbed 54% this year, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding nearly 59,000 people on a given day as the Trump administration presses for more arrests and deportations nationwide. As of September 7, 2025, ICE detention stood at 58,766, according to TRAC data from Syracuse University, up about 50% from the final months of President Biden’s term, when daily custody hovered around 39,000. The current level matches and at times exceeds the previous record of 55,000 set in 2019, underscoring how fast ICE detention has grown since President Donald Trump’s January inauguration and the rollout of stricter enforcement rules.

The numbers show a sharp change in who is being held and where arrests are taking place. TRAC data indicates that 70.8% of people in ICE detention have no criminal conviction, and many of those with convictions were penalized for minor offenses, such as traffic violations.

States along and beyond the southern border now hold the largest shares:
– Texas: 13,307 detainees
– Louisiana: 7,470
– California: 3,727
– Georgia: 2,998
– Arizona: 2,678

The Adams County Detention Center in Natchez, Mississippi, is the largest facility this year, averaging 2,172 people per day. In August 2025 alone, ICE and Customs and Border Protection booked 32,363 people into custody. At the same time, 181,401 individuals are being tracked through Alternatives to Detention (ATD), which includes ankle monitors, phone check-ins, and case management. San Francisco heads the list for ATD use, with 20,213 people monitored.

Current detention picture

The new approach favors interior arrests over border-focused actions. According to officials and researchers, more than 70% of those now in ICE detention were arrested inside the United States—at homes, workplaces, and during regular check-ins—compared to fewer than 40% near the end of the Biden administration.

TRAC data and interviews with analysts show this shift stems from:
– Broader arrest authority
– Restarted workplace raids
– Larger multi-agency operations that include CBP, FBI, and DEA support

These changes have created more visible enforcement in cities and towns, raising fears of sudden arrest among long-settled immigrant families.

Pressure on capacity has grown quickly. Congress financed detention for an average daily population of 41,500 this year, approving $3.4 billion for ICE detention. Yet the daily count now runs at over 140% of funded capacity, forcing the agency to spread detainees across more than 190 facilities in over 40 states and territories.

The administration has asked lawmakers for more money to add tens of thousands of beds and is exploring temporary sites, including possible use of military bases such as Fort Bliss in Texas. Florida officials have floated new facilities, including a proposed Everglades site nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” if federal funds flow.

The growth of ICE detention has also revived debate over private prison contracts. Roughly 90% of detainees are held in privately run facilities, a 10% increase over the first Trump term. Some contracts ended under President Biden due to conditions concerns, but the new expansion aims to sign additional deals.

• Advocacy groups argue private contracts incentivize longer stays and weak oversight.
• Local governments contend per-diem detention payments help stabilize jail budgets.
• The Vera Institute notes the detention network is vast and constantly changing, making it hard to track conditions or hold the system accountable.

Policy shifts driving the surge

Officials say the rise stems from the administration’s decision to reverse limits on who ICE should target. Biden-era guidelines focused on recent border crossers, national security threats, and serious criminals. The Trump team broadened that focus, instructing ICE to detain anyone suspected of being in the U.S. unlawfully, regardless of criminal history or length of residence.

That change, combined with resumed workplace raids—such as those reported at a Nebraska meat plant and a Louisiana racetrack—has widened the pool of people at risk.

A step-by-step look at the current approach:
1. Identification: ICE uses jail bookings, data sharing with local police, workplace audits, and public tips to flag noncitizens for arrest.
2. Arrest: Officers carry out planned operations at homes, job sites, and during check-ins, often supported by other federal agencies.
3. Booking: People enter ICE custody either at local ICE offices or directly at detention centers. In August 2025, more than 32,000 people were booked.
4. Detention: Stays range from days to years, depending on case complexity and legal representation.
5. Removal proceedings: Cases go before immigration judges. Bond hearings are not guaranteed, and lawyers are not provided by the government in immigration court.
6. Release or deportation: Some win release on bond, parole, or into ATD. Others are removed if an immigration judge issues a final order.

Advocates and some experts warn that due process is strained. Austin Kocher of Syracuse University said he’s concerned about ICE’s ability to meet “basic standards of civil detention” and provide fair process, adding that the administration appears to treat those protections as optional rather than required by law.

The National Immigrant Justice Center points to growing use of solitary confinement, including for people with mental illness or on suicide watch, and says oversight remains weak. Advocacy reports state that 12 people died in ICE custody over the past year—more than double the year before—amid allegations of medical neglect.

The administration defends the push as necessary to remove what it calls “dangerous criminal migrants,” though officials also say that anyone present unlawfully can be targeted. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has voiced support for expanding detention capacity, including state-federal partnerships. ICE leaders have not responded to detailed questions about overcapacity or expansion timelines.

Congressional critics, joined by human rights groups, are urging:
– Limits on solitary confinement
– Closer monitoring of facility conditions
– Remedies for overcrowding and delays in medical care

Conditions, costs, and community impact

Inside facilities, pressure on space and staff is mounting. Over 140% occupancy against the funded level raises risks of overcrowding and delayed services. Advocacy groups report that solitary confinement—known in ICE as “segregation”—has more than doubled for vulnerable people, and that hunger strikes have broken out in multiple centers since last year.

Some facilities have responded forcefully, including using pepper spray and non-lethal rounds to quell protests. These accounts are difficult to verify in real time due to limited public reporting and the dynamic nature of ICE contracts, but they echo documented findings from previous oversight reviews.

For families, the effects are immediate and painful:
– Parents picked up during morning raids may vanish into custody for weeks with little notice, leaving U.S.-citizen children in sudden need of care.
– Community groups describe rising fear that keeps people from visiting clinics, reporting crimes, or sending children to school events.
– Legal aid groups say they are stretched thin, and the lack of government-provided counsel in immigration court leaves many detainees to face judges alone.
– Racial disparities in access to bond and release persist, according to multiple analyses.

Economically, the detention surge benefits private operators and some local jails that contract with ICE. Per-diem payments can subsidize county budgets, especially in rural areas with limited revenue.

• Higher bed counts mean higher federal costs, and the administration’s request for billions more to expand detention will face congressional scrutiny.
• Some lawmakers want more funds for ATD, arguing it costs less and keeps families together while cases move forward.
• TRAC data shows ATD already supervises more than 181,000 people, but it remains unavailable to many and can still feel restrictive.

Historical context and what’s next

Historically, U.S. immigration detentions have swung with policy:
– Daily populations fell below 14,000 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
– They rose again under President Biden but stayed under 40,000 until late 2024.
– After the 2025 inauguration, numbers shot upward to near-record levels.

The United States now operates the largest immigration detention system in the world, covering more than 190 facilities across 40-plus states and territories.

What happens next will hinge on:
– Money (Congressional funding decisions)
– Courts (legal challenges to policy and conditions)
– Politics (administration priorities and state-federal partnerships)

The administration is pursuing more beds and possible temporary sites; opponents are preparing legal challenges around due process and conditions. International human rights bodies may increase pressure as numbers grow and complaints mount.

Practical guidance for people at risk

Lawyers urge basic planning for those who may be at risk:
– Keep identity documents and key phone numbers accessible.
– Arrange a family care plan for children.
– Know local legal aid resources.

ICE publishes limited public information about detention locations and contact details through its official pages, including ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. Researchers and reporters often rely on TRAC Immigration for near real-time detention snapshots—though official figures can lag and may differ as cases move.

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, the rapid rise in ICE detention reflects a strategic shift to interior enforcement backed by broader arrest authority and renewed workplace actions. Their review notes that policy choices—not just border flows—now drive the daily count, which helps explain why such a large share of detainees have no criminal convictions. That same pattern appears in TRAC data, where the high proportion without convictions persists even as bookings increase.

The debate: scale versus standards

Supporters of the expansion say:
– Tougher enforcement will deter unlawful entry and visa overstays.
– Interior arrests are essential to uphold immigration law.

Critics counter that:
– Mass detention strains courts and harms families.
– It risks civil rights violations—especially when bond is rare and facility oversight is thin.

As detention numbers stay near record highs, the pressure to decide between more beds or more alternatives will only grow.

For now, the most visible facts are in the daily totals:
– 58,766 people in ICE detention as of early September
– More than 32,000 booked in August
– 70.8% without a criminal conviction
– 181,401 monitored outside custody

Texas and Louisiana hold the largest shares, and Adams County in Mississippi leads all facilities by average daily population. Whether Congress approves new funds or courts force limits, these markers show how deeply the current enforcement drive has reshaped immigration detention in the United States—and how much is at stake for the families and communities caught in the middle.