Number of Immigrants Held in ICE Detention Facilities Declines to Under 18,000 at the End of February 2022

Just a quick announcement today related to recent research published by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University.

The number of immigrants currently held in detention centers by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the lowest since May 2021, with ICE’s detained population declining to 17,984 at the end of February down from 27,217 back in July.

This decline corresponds to a decline in book-ins by Customs and Border Protection along the border and still low numbers of book-ins by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Immigrants who have been booked into detention facilities have been moving through the system much faster since last April, with the average length of stay hovering around 20 days for the past six months compared to well over 70 days prior to March.

At the same time, the number of immigrants on ICE’s Alternatives to Detention (ATD) technology has grown dramatically to nearly 190,000. All of this growth is attributed to the use of SmartLINK technology (which uses smartphones and facial recognition technology), while the use of GPS ankle monitors remains stagnant at around 30,000.

• See TRAC’s most recent immigrant detention data facts here: https://trac.syr.edu/whatsnew/email.220304.html

• See TRAC’s Quick Facts detention data here: https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/quickfacts/

• See TRAC’s detailed table of immigrant detention data: https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/detentionstats/pop_agen_table.html

• See TRAC’s most recent report that examines the growth of immigrants monitored through ICE’s Alternatives to Detention data here: https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/678/

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