News from TRAC

ICE Detention Numbers Decline Slightly to 27,000, GPS Ankle Monitors See Continued Growth

(01 Apr 2024) The number of detainees held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) dropped to 36,931, a drop of just over 2,000 from the previous detention data released in early March. Much of this decrease is due to a reported drop in detainees who had been arrested by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Between March 10 and March 24, the number of detainees who had been arrested by CBP fell from 27,623 to 24,248 while detainees arrested by ICE increased slightly from 11,488 to 11,683.

The number of migrants who are electronically monitored by ICE’s alternatives to detention (ATD) program remains steady at around 184,000. However, the agency’s use of GPS smartwatches (announced in summer of 2023) continues to increase, from 365 two weeks ago to 572 according to their latest data. GPS ankle monitors, which had declined to under 5,000 in June 2023, appears to have also increased to 18,518. See TRAC’s previous reports that raise concerns about the quality of ICE’s public ATD data, specifically related to the accuracy of data on the number of migrants on GPS ankle monitors.

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

Immigration and Customs Enforcement held 36,931 in ICE detention according to data current as of March 24, 2024.
23,745 out of 36,931—or 64.3%—held in ICE detention have no criminal record, according to data current as of March 24, 2024. Many more have only minor offenses, including traffic violations.
ICE relied on detention facilities in Texas to house the most people during FY 2024, according to data current as of March 18, 2024.
ICE arrested 7,387 and CBP arrested 17,050 of the 24,437 people booked into detention by ICE during February 2024.
South Texas Fam Residential Center in Dilley, Texas held the largest number of ICE detainees so far in FY 2024, averaging 1,849 per day (as of March 2024).
ICE Alternatives to Detention (ATD) programs are currently monitoring 183,935 families and single individuals, according to data current as of March 23, 2024.
San Francisco's area office has highest number in ICE's Alternatives to Detention (ATD) monitoring programs, according to data current as of March 23, 2024.

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