Comparing the Deportation Data Project’s daily detention counts with ICE’s published annual statistics to identify unreported facilities and track population changes
Author
Carwil Bjork-James
Published
April 1, 2026
Note
This report was generated using AI under general human direction. At the time of generation, the contents have not been comprehensively reviewed by a human analyst.
# Pre-computed data from the ice-detention pipeline.# Run copy-data.sh to refresh from the pipeline project.ice_fy25 <-readRDS("data/ice_fy25.rds")ddp_fy25 <-readRDS("data/ddp_fy25.rds")ddp_fy25_keyed <-readRDS("data/ddp_fy25_keyed.rds")daily_totals <-readRDS("data/daily_totals.rds")unmatched <-readRDS("data/unmatched.rds")daily_unmatched <-readRDS("data/daily_unmatched.rds")monthly_unmatched <-readRDS("data/monthly_unmatched.rds")peak_fy25 <-readRDS("data/peak_fy25.rds")biden_unmatched <-readRDS("data/biden_unmatched.rds")trump_unmatched <-readRDS("data/trump_unmatched.rds")daily_unreported <-readRDS("data/daily_unreported.rds")
Throughout this report, facility-level summaries distinguish between facilities with ADP ≥ 2 and those with ADP < 2. Facilities averaging fewer than two detainees per day—typically hospitals, occasional-use hold rooms, and other transient placements—account for many DDP facility codes but negligible population. Separating them keeps attention on facilities with substantive detention activity.
Aggregate comparison
The DDP (Deportation Data Project) provides daily facility-level detention counts. To compare with the ICE FY25 annual statistics, we average DDP daily counts from October 1, 2024 through September 24, 2025—the date stamp on the FY25 spreadsheet.
The DDP covers 853 facility codes while the ICE spreadsheet lists 189 facilities. The DDP’s higher total reflects the many smaller facilities (hold rooms, federal prisons, medical facilities) not included in the ICE annual statistics.
Figure 1: Total ICE detained population per day (DDP data, all facilities)
Facility-level matching
We join the two datasets through canonical facility IDs. Each DDP facility code is mapped to a canonical ID via detloc_lookup_full, which preserves all DETLOC variants from every source (DMCP, DDP, hold/ERO, Vera). Some canonical facilities have multiple codes—for example, Central Arizona Florence Correctional Complex uses CCADCAZ (DMCP) and CCAFLAZ (DDP), and Delaney Hall uses ESSEXNJ (DMCP) and DHDFNJ (DDP). Using the full lookup ensures all codes contribute ADP to the correct facility.
2 ICE FY25 facilities have no matching DDP facility code. These are cases where the DETLOC used in DMCP records does not appear in DDP data.
Unmatched facilities
665 of 853 DDP facility codes do not appear in the ICE FY25 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 2: DDP facilities not in ICE FY25, by Vera facility type and ADP class
Facility type
ADP class
Facilities
FY25 ADP
Hold/Staging
ADP ≥ 2
78
1108
Federal
ADP ≥ 2
9
332
Dedicated
ADP ≥ 2
2
186
Hold/Staging
ADP < 2
107
61
Non-Dedicated
ADP ≥ 2
9
41
Medical
ADP ≥ 2
7
37
Medical
ADP < 2
221
32
Non-Dedicated
ADP < 2
149
28
Federal
ADP < 2
69
15
Family/Youth
ADP ≥ 2
1
3
Dedicated
ADP < 2
7
0
Family/Youth
ADP < 2
4
0
Other/Unknown
ADP < 2
1
0
Unclassified
ADP < 2
1
0
The 665 unmatched facilities account for a full-year ADP of roughly 1,844. Of those, 559 facility codes average fewer than 2 detainees per day, contributing 136 ADP in total.
Figure 7: DDP facilities not in ICE FY25 annual statistics, sized by FY25 peak population
Unreported detention: Biden final quarter vs early Trump
The preceding sections establish which DDP facilities are absent from the ICE FY25 annual statistics. Here we compare the unreported population—detainees held at those unmatched facilities—during the final three months of the Biden administration versus a comparable window under the Trump administration.