News from TRAC

Decline in Immigration Detention Book-Ins and Migrants on ATD According to Latest Data from ICE

(17 Mar 2023) The most recent data released to the public by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show that the number of immigrants booked into detention facilities fell in February to 19,731, down from just over 22,000 in January. The overall decline was driven by a decline in detentions stemming from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) rather than from ICE, who actually saw a very slight uptick in new detentions from about 6,500 in January to nearly 7,000 in February. This is consistent with CBP's recent report that they saw a sharp decline in Southwest land border encounters from 252,000 in December to 155,000 in February.

The total number of migrants monitored by ICE's Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program also continues to fall, from about 293,000 at the end of February to around 287,300 on March 11. The steepest decline has come from the number of migrants on ATD with no technology, which declined from nearly 58,000 in December to 13,500 in March. SmartLINK enrollment makes up the large percentage of cases on ATD, but has declined to around 255,600 which is the same levels that ICE reported back in September 2022.

The total current breakdown of ATD population is as follows:

SmartLINK (255,615)
No Technology (13,554)
Telephonic Reporting (13,077)
GPS Ankle Monitor (5,053)

Highlights from data updated in TRAC's Quick Fact tool show that:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement held 27,723 in ICE detention according to data current as of March 12, 2023.
17,192 out of 27,723—or 62.0%—held in ICE detention have no criminal record, according to data current as of March 12, 2023. Many more have only minor offenses, including traffic violations.
ICE relied on detention facilities in Texas to house the most people during FY 2023, according to data current as of March 6, 2023.
ICE arrested 6,962 and CBP arrested 12,769 of the 19,731 people booked into detention by ICE during February 2023.
South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas held the largest number of ICE detainees so far in FY 2023, averaging 1,363 per day (as of March 2023).
ICE Alternatives to Detention (ATD) programs are currently monitoring 287,299 families and single individuals, according to data current as of March 11, 2023.
Harlingen's area office has highest number in ICE's Alternatives to Detention (ATD) monitoring programs, according to data current as of March 11, 2023.

For more information, see TRAC's Quick Facts tools here or click here to learn more about TRAC's entire suite of immigration tools.

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