ICE detention grew 9% in 14 weeks — the facility-by-facility movement data

Name: ICE detention — facility-level movement between releases
Creator: MigrantUSA
License: https://migrantusa.com/terms/

Facility-by-facility movement of ICE detention between report releases: who grew, who shrank, who entered and left the file. ICE overwrites; we bank it.

Where ICE detention grew, facility by facility

The finding: between ICE’s April 4 and July 11, 2026 snapshots, national detention rose 9.0% — 60,311 to 65,765 people, with interior ICE arrests (+6,803) more than accounting for the growth while border-arrest detainees fell (−1,349). At the facility level, the growth is anything but even: of 192 facilities appearing in both releases, only 58 grew, 112 shrank, and the fastest grower — Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Oklahoma — more than doubled its reported average population, 299 to 605.

ICE never publishes this. Its Detention Management page carries one dated spreadsheet and replaces it about every two weeks; the previous file leaves no public trace. We bank every release and difference them, so the direction of detention — which facilities are expanding, which are emptying, which entered or left ICE’s own report — is measurable.

Window measured: 2026-04-04 → 2026-07-11 (releases of 2026-04-09 and 2026-07-20) · 192 facilities compared · 58 grew, 112 shrank, 22 unchanged · 16 entered the report, 11 left it

The national movement (same-day snapshots)

	2026-04-04	2026-07-11	Change
Total detained	60,311	65,765	+5,454 (+9%)
No criminal conviction	42,722 (70.8%)	46,436 (70.6%)	+3,714
Arrested by ICE (interior)	51,428 (85.3%)	58,231 (88.5%)	+6,803
Arrested by CBP (border)	8,883 (14.7%)	7,534 (11.5%)	−1,349

The fastest-growing facilities

Per-facility figures = ICE's reported FY2026 average daily population (a cumulative fiscal-year average, not a same-day count)

Facility	State	2026-04-09	2026-07-20	Change
Diamondback Corr Facility	OK	299	605	+306
Folkston D Ray Ice Processing Ctr	GA	1,104	1,252	+148
California City Immigration Processing Center	CA	1,304	1,426	+122
Midwest Regional Reception Center	KS	7	89	+82
Baker Correctional Institution	FL	889	963	+74
Miami Correctional Center	IN	457	504	+47
Irwin County Detention Center	GA	167	213	+46
Western Tennessee Detention Facility	TN	324	364	+40
Liberty County Jail	FL	9	40	+31
Lewisburg Us Penitentiary	PA	62	89	+27
Flagler County Jail	FL	25	47	+22
Mccook Detention Center	NE	105	123	+18

The biggest declines

Facility	State	2026-04-09	2026-07-20	Change
Ero El Paso Camp East Montana	TX	2,505	2,026	−479
Adams County Correctional Center	MS	2,124	1,878	−246
Otay Mesa Detention Center	CA	1,380	1,231	−149
North Lake Correctional Facility	MI	1,410	1,266	−144
Dilley Immigration Processing Center	TX	567	426	−141
Northwest Ice Processing Center	WA	1,289	1,174	−115
Richwood Correctional Center	LA	1,039	939	−100
Joe Corley Processing Ctr	TX	953	862	−91
Eden Detention Ctr	TX	534	444	−90
Karnes County Immigration Processing Center	TX	1,162	1,076	−86
Delaney Hall Detention Facility	NJ	891	812	−79
Port Isabel Spc	TX	1,231	1,152	−79

Entered and left ICE's report

Entered (16 facilities; FY2026 average in the 2026-07-20 release): Central Valley Annex (CA, 84), Putnam County Sheriff (TN, 11), Nassau County Correctional Center (NY, 9), Victoria County Jail (TX, 5), Charlotte County Jail (FL, 3), Fayette County Detention Center (KY, 3), Montgomery County Jail (NY, 3), Anchorage Correctional Complex (AK, 2), Lubbock County Detention Center (TX, 2), Sebastian County Detention Center (AR, 2), Cache County Jail (UT, 1), Franklin County Jail (PA, 1), Garvin County Detention Center (OK, 1), La Paz County Adult Detention Facility (AZ, 1), Randall County Jail (TX, 1), Rockingham County Jail (VA, 1).

Left (11 facilities; FY2026 average in the 2026-04-09 release): Florida Soft-Sided Facility (FL, 1,383), Broome County Jail (NY, 40), Clinton County Jail (IN, 28), Miami Staging Facility (FL, 20), Jtf Camp Six (FL, 14), Niagara County Jail (NY, 9), Allegany County Jail (NY, 6), Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility (VT, 4), Karnes County Correctional Center (TX, 2), Western Virginia Regional Jail (VA, 2), Laurel County Correctional Center (KY, 1). A facility leaving the report means ICE no longer lists it in its file; ICE does not publish why.

Note: 2 facilities were respelled between releases and are paired as the same facility (“Northwest Ice Processsing Center” → “Northwest Ice Processing Center”; “Cimmarron Corr Facility” → “Cimarron Correctional Facility”).

The three movements to sit with

+306 in Watonga, Oklahoma. Diamondback Correctional Facility’s reported FY2026 average daily population went 299 to 605 between the April and July releases — a facility more than doubling its reported average in fourteen weeks of reporting. A cumulative fiscal-year average only moves that fast when the recent population is far above everything that came before it.

−479 in El Paso. The biggest single move in the whole report is a decline: ERO El Paso Camp East Montana, the largest facility in the April release at 2,505, fell to 2,026. Detention grew 9.0% nationally while its largest site shrank — the growth went elsewhere: to Diamondback, Folkston (+148), California City (+122).

1,383 people, no longer listed. The Florida Soft-Sided Facility carried a reported FY2026 average of 1,383 in the April release and is simply absent from the July file. ICE does not publish why a facility leaves its report. The number does not tell you where the people went — only that a site the size of a small town stopped being reported.

Method

Source: ICE’s official Detention Management FY2026 statistics spreadsheet — the April 9 and July 20, 2026 releases, banked when each was current. Every figure on this page is parsed from those files; nothing is hand-typed.
Value semantics: the national detained totals are same-day snapshots (April 4 and July 11, 2026, the snapshot dates printed in each file’s footnotes). Per-facility figures are ICE’s reported FY2026 average daily population — a cumulative fiscal-year average, not a same-day count — so a facility’s “change” here is the change in that reported average between releases.
Name changes: ICE corrected two facility-name spellings between the releases (Northwest ICE Processing Center, Cimarron Correctional Facility). Treating a respelling as one facility closing and another opening would fabricate a ~1,300-person closure, so near-identical same-state names are paired as the same facility and disclosed in the data file.
Coverage caveat: ICE lists only facilities meeting its reporting threshold (203 in the April release, 208 in July), so entries and exits at the bottom of the roster can reflect the threshold, not an opening or closing — and the facility figures are not an exhaustive census of everywhere ICE holds people.

Download the data

ice_detention_movement.json — every facility that moved, entered, or left between the releases, plus the national movement and the summary counts on this page.
ice_detention_history.json — the banked national snapshot series with computed change between consecutive releases.
ice_detention_stats.json — the full current snapshot: national totals plus facility-level averages, keyed to each facility page.

Suggested citation: MigrantUSA, “ICE detention — facility-level movement between releases,” migrantusa.com/datasets/ice-detention-movement/, retrieved [date], from ICE Detention Management data.

ICE detention population analysis — the current snapshot this movement is computed from, with a free embeddable widget.
ICE detention facilities — every facility, with address, phone, locator, and FY2026 statistics.
287(g) growth analysis — how local police were deputized for immigration enforcement.
USCIS processing times movement — the same idea applied to USCIS service levels.

This is general information, not legal advice. These are ICE’s own operational statistics, republished with the movement made visible; they say nothing about any individual case. Consult an attorney for your specific situation.

Frequently asked questions

What does this dataset measure?

The movement of ICE’s own detention statistics between two dated releases of its Detention Management spreadsheet — April 9 and July 20, 2026. ICE replaces the file about every two weeks and the previous release leaves no public trace, so we bank every release and difference them: the national same-day snapshots (60,311 detained on April 4; 65,765 on July 11), and the reported FY2026 average daily population of every facility that appears in both files — 192 facilities compared, 58 grew, 112 shrank, 22 unchanged.

Which ICE detention facilities grew the most?

By change in reported FY2026 average daily population: Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Oklahoma more than doubled, 299 to 605 (+306). Behind it: Folkston D. Ray ICE Processing Center in Georgia (1,104 to 1,252), the California City Immigration Processing Center (1,304 to 1,426), the Midwest Regional Reception Center in Kansas (7 to 89), and Baker Correctional Institution in Florida (889 to 963).

Which facilities shrank the most?

The biggest single move in the entire report is a decline: ERO El Paso Camp East Montana in Texas — the largest facility in the April release — fell 2,505 to 2,026 (−479). Adams County Correctional Center in Mississippi fell 2,124 to 1,878, Otay Mesa Detention Center in California 1,380 to 1,231, North Lake Correctional Facility in Michigan 1,410 to 1,266, and the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas 567 to 426.

Which facilities appeared in or disappeared from ICE's report?

16 facilities entered the report between April and July 2026 — the largest genuine entry is Central Valley Annex in California, at a reported average of 84. 11 left it, most notably the Florida Soft-Sided Facility, which carried a reported FY2026 average of 1,383 in the April release and is absent from the July file; ICE does not publish why a facility leaves its report. Two facilities were respelled between releases (Northwest ICE Processing Center and Cimarron Correctional Facility) and are counted as the same facility, not as roster changes.

Why do most facilities show declines while total detention grew 9%?

Because the two measures answer different questions. The national figures are same-day snapshots — 60,311 people on April 4 versus 65,765 on July 11, 2026. The per-facility figure ICE publishes is the FY2026 average daily population: a cumulative average over the whole fiscal year, which moves slowly and can drift down even while a facility’s current population holds steady. That is why this page ranks facilities by the direction and size of the change in the reported average, and never mixes the two measures in one column.

How often does this update and can I reuse the data?

ICE replaces its Detention Management spreadsheet about every two weeks; each new release is banked and the movement file regenerates from the full series. The JSON is free to download and reuse, including commercially, with attribution to MigrantUSA and a link to this page. The underlying statistics are US government public data; the banked release series, the differencing, and the facility crosswalk are ours.

Cite this dataset

Free to use under CC BY 4.0 — share and adapt, with attribution. If it was useful enough to build on, a citation is the whole ask.

MigrantUSA Editorial (2026). ICE detention — facility-level movement between releases, in US Immigration Data. 10.5281/zenodo.21812233

Permanent DOI (all versions): 10.5281/zenodo.21812233
Open repository and change record
Methodology and sources · data updated 2026-08-09

The underlying facts come from the official sources cited inside each file and carry no copyright; what we contribute is the curation, verification, and the banked history. If your claim rests on what a value used to be, cite the government source for the fact and this record for the change.

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General information, not legal advice. MigrantUSA is an independent publisher and is not a law firm; using this site does not create an attorney-client relationship, and this content is not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney about your specific situation. US federal, state, and local government procedures, fees, and forms change. Always verify current details directly with the relevant agency before acting. For immigration, tax, or other legal matters specific to your situation, consult a licensed attorney or BIA-accredited representative.