Why Immigration Detention Is Reshaping the National Count

The Prison Policy Initiative reported a 58% increase in the number of people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) between its 2025 and 2026 comparisons. The finding is based on the organization's compiled snapshot data, not a claim about every detention center.

In its March 2026 report, "Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2026," the organization put the increase at 25,200 people and wrote that expanded immigration detention "accounts for virtually all of the growth in mass incarceration" since its previous report. Across all federal agencies for which it had data, the number of people held for immigration reasons grew by 32% in the first year of the current administration, the report says.

What a snapshot count measures

The 2026 figure is an average daily population of 68,990 people in ICE detention, drawn from ICE's Detention Management spreadsheet with data as of January 7, 2026. The report elsewhere rounds this to a "near record-high 69,000."

A count like this answers one question: roughly how many people were in ICE detention around a particular point in time. It does not answer several others:

• ✱How many different people were detained over a year. People are booked in, transferred and released constantly, so a one-day figure is smaller than the number of people who pass through.
• ✱What is happening at any single facility. A national total says nothing about conditions, crowding or care at a specific detention center.
• ✱Why the number changed. The figure records growth. It does not by itself explain the policy or enforcement decisions behind it.

The report also notes that the number of facilities holding people for ICE grew by 65%, with 87 more than in early 2025.

Civil detention is not criminal imprisonment

The most important distinction for families is legal. ICE detention is civil. The report describes ICE as holding people "not for any crime, but simply because they are facing deportation." A person in ICE detention has not necessarily been charged with or convicted of a crime.

Criminal imprisonment for immigration-related offenses is a separate category. The report counts over 6,500 people in federal prisons for criminal convictions of immigration offenses, and 10,000 more held by the U.S. Marshals Service. It says the vast majority of people incarcerated for criminal immigration offenses are accused of illegal entry or illegal reentry.

Put simply:

• ✱ICE civil detention: a person held while their immigration case or removal is pending.
• ✱Criminal custody for an immigration offense: a person charged with or convicted of a federal crime, held by the Marshals Service or the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The two follow different processes, are run by different agencies and show up in different records.

Where people are held

People detained by ICE may be in federal, private or state-run facilities, or in local jails under contract. Based on ICE data as of January 7, 2026, the report estimates that 22% were in city and county jails and 61% were in private contract facilities. That means a family member could be in a county jail without facing any local criminal charge.

What this means for families

• ✱To find someone in immigration detention, start with ICE's Online Detainee Locator System. If the person is in a local jail under contract, the jail may also have information.
• ✱Ask whether the person is being held on a civil immigration matter, a criminal charge or both. The answer determines which court, agency and records apply.
• ✱Immigration matters move through a different process from criminal cases. For advice about a specific case, contact a licensed immigration attorney or a nonprofit legal service provider. Our local help directory lists attorneys and other services by area.