Detention Management

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) manages and oversees the nation’s civil immigration detention system. ICE detainees placed in ERO custody represent virtually every country in the world, various security classifications, both genders and medical conditions ranging from healthy to terminally ill.

Non-U.S. citizens who are apprehended and determined to need custodial supervision are placed in detention facilities. Those who are released from secure custody constitute ERO's "nondetained" docket. Every case, whether "detained" or "non-detained," remains part of ERO's caseload and is actively managed until it is formally closed. ERO processes and monitors detained and non-detained cases as they move through immigration court proceedings to conclusion. At that point, ERO executes the judge's order.

Through an aggressive inspections program, ICE ensures its facilities follow ICE's National Detention Standards (NDS). ERO's Detention Standards Compliance Unit ensures that detainees in ICE custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments and under appropriate conditions of confinement.

The NDS were originally issued in September 2000 to facilitate consistent conditions of confinement, access to legal representation and safe and secure operations across the detention system. The standards established consistency of program operations and management expectations, accountability for compliance and a culture of professionalism.

ICE now uses Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS) that focus on results or outcomes. Each detention center must meet specified standards.

As part of the restructuring of the former INS, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 transferred the responsibilities related to the care and custody of unaccompanied alien children to the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement. To that end, ERO developed policy and procedures regarding the appropriate case management of unaccompanied alien children in Federal custody while they wait for immigration proceedings. ERO coordinates closely with DHS partners to ensure the timely and safe transfer of unaccompanied alien children to the Office of Refugee Resettlement in accordance with both the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008.

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) manages and oversees the nation’s civil immigration detention system, detaining individuals in furtherance of their removal proceedings or to effect their removal from the U.S. after a final order of removal from a federal immigration judge. ICE detainees are housed in a variety of facilities across the United States, including but not limited to ICE-owned-and-operated facilities; local, county or state facilities contracted through Intergovernmental Service Agreements, and contractor-owned-and-operated facilities.

ICE is committed to ensuring that those in our custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments and under appropriate conditions of confinement. ICE makes custody determinations on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with U.S. law and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy, considering the merits and factors of each case while adhering to current agency priorities, guidelines and legal mandates. In making such determinations, ERO officers weigh a variety of factors, including the person’s criminal record, immigration history, ties to the community, risk of flight, and whether he or she poses a potential threat to public safety.

Congressional requirements described in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (2019) require ICE to make the following data publicly accessible.

Definitions

The Average Daily Population (ADP) is the total number of individuals in ICE detention across the current fiscal year, divided by the number of days into the fiscal year. ICE’s fiscal year runs October 1 through September 30. ADP is reported “as of” a date within the current fiscal year.

Arresting agency:

• CBP: Individuals encountered and arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including Border Patrol and Air and Land Inspections, and turned over to ICE.
• ICE: Individuals encountered and arrested by ICE, including ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

For ADP, criminality is defined in the following manner:

• Convicted Criminal:The individual has a criminal conviction in the system of record on or prior to the date of departure.
• Non-Criminal: The individual does not have a criminal conviction in the system of record on or prior to date of departure. This includes individuals who have criminal convictions that were overturned, dropped, or dismissedon or prior to date of departure.

Average Length of Stay (ALOS) is the average number of days an individual spent in ICE custody as of the current fiscal year.

Currently Detained is the number of individuals detained in ICE custody, “as of” the reporting date.

For ALOS and Currently Detained, criminality is defined in the following manner:

• Convicted Criminal: The individual has a criminal conviction entered into ICE systems of record at the time of arrest by ICE.
• Pending Criminal Charges:The individual has pending criminal charges entered into ICE system of record at the time of arrest by ICE.
• Other Immigration Violators: The individual has no known criminal convictions, or pending charges entered into ICE system of record at the time of arrest by ICE.

Initial Book-Ins by Facility Type is the number of individuals booked into ICE custody, broken down by those booked into adult custody and those booked into a family residential center. **Note that ICE detention population does not include U.S. Marshals Service Prisoners or unaccompanied minors reported by the Office of Refugee and Resettlement.