Record Detentions: More Than 70,000 People in ICE Custody for the First Time in History

New official data show an unprecedented expansion of the immigrant detention system and electronic monitoring.

Ice agents in Minneapolis after the murder of Renee Good -- Chad Davis, [1], CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

By Nicolas Baintrub, Enlace Latino NC

The U.S. immigrant detention system has reached a new historic high. On Jan. 24, 2026, 70,766 people were being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 225 immigrant detention centers across the country, according to official data released in February.

It is the first time since ICE was created that the detained population has surpassed the 70,000 mark. The milestone represents an unprecedented expansion of the federal immigration enforcement apparatus.

Chart: Enlace Latino NCSource: ICEGet the dataCreated with Datawrapper

Growth driven by people without criminal records

As with data released in late 2025, the new information confirms that growth in detentions during fiscal year 2026 is being driven primarily by people without criminal records.

So far this fiscal year, the total one-day detained population has increased by 13,629 people. Of that growth, 70% corresponds to immigrants with no criminal charges or convictions, 20% to people with pending criminal charges, and only 10% to immigrants with criminal convictions.

Austin Kocher, an immigration specialist and professor at Syracuse University, said that even within that last group, only a very small fraction involves serious violent crimes or genuine threats to public safety.

Chart: Enlace Latino NCSource: ICEGet the dataCreated with Datawrapper

A trend building since the summer

For Kocher, the data show a clear trend that has solidified in recent months.

“Since the summer, almost all of the growth in ICE detentions has been people without criminal records — a massive area of sustained growth that contradicts the Trump administration’s narrative that they are focused on the worst of the worst,” he said.

The analysis reinforces a recurring criticism from experts and civil rights organizations: that the expansion of the immigrant detention system is not primarily aimed at dangerous individuals, but at immigrants whose only conflict with the law is immigration-related.

Arrests flat, detained population rising

Another striking finding in the new report is that ICE arrests have remained relatively stable over the past four months, averaging close to 36,000 arrests per month between October 2025 and January 2026.

The combination of flat arrests and a growing detained population suggests longer periods of detention, which directly contribute to the expansion of the immigration jail system even without a significant increase in the number of people arrested.

Growth beyond detention centers

The increase is not limited to people behind bars. ICE also reached a historic record in the use of electronic monitoring, with more than 40,000 people subjected to ankle monitors — the highest number ever recorded by the agency.

This type of supervision is part of what are known as “alternatives to detention.” When all such alternatives are combined, beyond ankle monitors, the total remains steady at around 180,000 people.

Civil rights advocates warn that, in practice, these measures expand the reach of immigration control into the daily lives of thousands of immigrants, even when they are not deprived of their liberty.

A broader, less targeted system

The new record in detentions and the unprecedented use of electronic monitoring show that federal immigration enforcement continues to expand both inside and outside detention centers. At the same time, the data reinforce an uncomfortable conclusion for the official narrative: most of the growth is not tied to violent crime or threats to public safety.

Instead, the expansion of the system falls primarily on people without criminal records, many of them with deep community ties, family connections, and years of residence in the United States — a trend that, experts warn, is effectively redefining the goals and scope of current immigration policy.