Unreported Detention: ICE Facilities in FY 2026

An analysis of ICE detention statistics not included in the February 2026 annual detention report

Comparing the Deportation Data Project’s daily detention counts with ICE’s published FY 2026 annual statistics to identify unreported facilities and track population changes
Author

Carwil Bjork-James

Published

April 12, 2026

Overview

This page analyzes ICE detention during the first months of fiscal year 2026, comparing two data sources:

  1. ICE FY 2026 annual detention statistics, released February 12, 2026, with data through February 5, 2026. Published at the ICE Detention Management Division, the spreadsheet covers 220 facilities.

  2. Deportation Data Project daily population data, government data obtained by FOIA and archived by the Deportation Data Project. The dataset covers every ICE detention facility with reported daily counts from October 2022 through March 10, 2026.

Significantly, both of these are government-generated datasets, provided more and less willingly (respectively) by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Where doing comparisons below, we focus on the October 1, 2025 – February 12, 2026 period covered by the ICE FY 2026 spreadsheet. Where summarizing detention as a whole, and in drawing the sparkline graphs for each facility on the map, we go as far as the DDP allows.

As with FY 2025, the DDP data reveals a substantial unreported detention population — facilities where ICE holds people that do not appear in the published annual statistics. Over this period, the unreported population reached a peak of over 2,500 individuals on a single day. Medical facilities, which accounted for about 68 detainees per day in FY 2025, have been excluded from this dataset.

In FY 2026, it is Hold Rooms and other Staging facilities that account for the vast majority of the unreported population. For comparison, hold facilties in FY 2025 had an average daily population of about 1,163 detainees, with an average of 1,986 in the final 60 days.

This analysis is partial in that a small handful of “Unclassified” facilities may have ICE matches which are still being added manually, but you can see if Figure 4 that this is a negligible part of the total.

Aggregate comparison

The ICE FY 2026 spreadsheet covers October 1, 2025 through February 5, 2026 — 128 days. To compare with the DDP data we compute average daily population (ADP) over that same window.

Table 1: Aggregate comparison: ICE FY26 annual stats vs. DDP daily average (Oct 1 2025 – Feb 5 2026)
Source Facilities Total ADP
ICE FY26 annual stats 220 67139
DDP daily average 563 69696

The DDP covers 563 facility codes with at least one detainee during this period, compared to 220 in the ICE spreadsheet. On average, 2,557 more detainees per day appear in the DDP data than in ICE’s published figures.

Daily population over time

Figure 1: Total ICE detained population per day (DDP data, Jan 2025 – Mar 2026)

Facility-level matching

Category Value
In both sources 216
ICE only (no DDP match) 4
Matched: ICE total ADP 67121
Matched: DDP total ADP 67619
Matched: aggregate difference 498 (0.74%)

Facility-level agreement

Figure 2: FY26 ADP comparison by facility (log scale). Dashed line = perfect agreement.
Table 2
Agreement band Facilities
Within 10% 153
Within 25% 22
Within 50% 24
>50% difference 17
Public-facing report shows greater value 89

Among the 216 matched facilities with nonzero ADP in both sources, 153 agree within 10%. There are 89 facilities with a lower count in DDP than in the ICE spreadsheet.

Table 3: ICE FY26 facilities with no DDP match
ID Facility ICE ADP
372 Victoria County Jail 14
1212 Scott County Detention. Facility 2
402 Lafayette Parish Correctional Center 1
1211 Sarasota County Jail 1

4 ICE FY26 facilities have no matching DDP facility code.

Unmatched facilities

345 of 563 DDP facility codes do not appear in the ICE FY 2026 annual statistics. These are facilities where ICE holds detainees but which are excluded from the published spreadsheet.

By facility type

Facility types are drawn from the Vera Institute’s classification system. “Dedicated” facilities are purpose-built or contractually dedicated to ICE detention. “Non-Dedicated” are county jails and other facilities that also hold ICE detainees. “Hold/Staging” are short-term ERO processing rooms. “Federal” includes BOP prisons and USMS facilities.

Table 4: DDP facilities not in ICE FY26, by facility type and ADP class
Facility type Peak class Facilities Period ADP
Hold/Staging Peak ≥ 2 152 1809
Federal Peak ≥ 2 32 182
Non-Dedicated Peak ≥ 2 37 48
Unclassified Peak ≥ 2 25 29
Family/Youth Peak ≥ 2 3 4
Non-Dedicated Peak < 2 37 3
Unclassified Peak < 2 24 2
Federal Peak < 2 16 1
Dedicated Peak < 2 4 0
Dedicated Peak ≥ 2 2 0
Family/Youth Peak < 2 1 0
Hold/Staging Peak < 2 12 0
Other/Unknown Peak < 2 1 0

The 346 unmatched facilities account for an average daily population of 2,079 over the October 2025 – February 5, 2026 period. 95 facilities never had more than one detainee at a time, collectively contributing 6.9 ADP.

Daily population in unmatched facilities

Figure 3: Daily detained population in facilities not in ICE FY26 annual statistics
Figure 4: Average daily population in unmatched facilities, by month and type

Peak population by facility

Table 5: Top 20 unmatched facilities by peak detained population (Oct 2025 – Feb 5 2026)
Facility City State Type Peak pop. Peak date Mean ADP
AZ REM OP COORD CENTER (AROCC) MESA AZ Hold/Staging 777 2026-01-28 150
BISHOP HENRY WHIPPLE FED BLDG Fort Snelling MN Hold/Staging 362 2026-01-09 65
BROADVIEW SERVICE STAGING BROADVIEW IL Hold/Staging 326 2025-11-01 78
DALLAS F.O. HOLD Dallas TX Hold/Staging 213 2025-10-23 97
BALTIMORE HOLD ROOM Baltimore MD Hold/Staging 209 2026-01-23 96
LOS CUST CASE Los Angeles CA Hold/Staging 208 2025-12-18 89
BOSTON HOLDROOM Burlington MA Hold/Staging 164 2026-01-23 40
MONTGOMERY HOLD RM Conroe TX Hold/Staging 162 2026-01-13 78
PHOENIX DIST OFFICE Phoenix AZ Hold/Staging 155 2025-12-03 64
CHARLOTTE HOLD ROOM CHARLOTTE NC Hold/Staging 145 2025-11-17 30
INDIANAPOLIS HOLD ROOM INDIANAPOLIS IN Hold/Staging 142 2025-10-29 43
SAN ANTONIO DRO HOLD ROOM San Antonio TX Hold/Staging 139 2026-01-30 46
LAREDO DETENTION CENTER HOLD ROOM LAREDO TX Hold/Staging 134 2025-12-07 27
ATLANTA DIST. HOLD RM Atlanta GA Hold/Staging 131 2025-10-03 86
RICHMOND SUB-OFFICE HOLD RICHMOND VA Hold/Staging 126 2025-10-22 31
MIAMI (MIRAMAR) HOLD ROOM Miramar FL Hold/Staging 108 2025-11-21 55
ORLANDO HOLD ROOM ORLANDO FL Hold/Staging 100 2025-12-19 48
KROME HOLD ROOM MIAMI FL Hold/Staging 94 2025-11-11 2
MARION COUNTY JAIL Indianapolis IN Federal 89 2025-10-15 51
TAMPA HOLD ROOM TAMPA FL Hold/Staging 87 2025-10-27 41
Figure 5: Distribution of peak population among unmatched facilities (log scale, peak > 0)

Map of unmatched facilities

Figure 6: DDP facilities not in ICE FY26 annual statistics, sized by peak population (Oct 2025 – Feb 5 2026)