U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers enforce immigration laws within the interior to preserve national security and public safety.

ERO manages all aspects of the immigration enforcement process, including the identification, arrest, detention and removal of noncitizens who are subject to removal or are unlawfully present in the United States.

Like all law enforcement agencies, ERO officers prioritize their enforcement actions based on agency and department priorities, funding and capacity. ERO operations are flexible enough to allow its officers to respond to events such as spikes in border crossings, modifications to U.S. laws, pandemics, and natural disasters at home and abroad.

The following dashboards present for the first time information and trends in arrests, detentions, removals and alternatives to detention as of September 30, 2023.

The dashboards will be updated quarterly.

Arrests

Arrest Statistics

ERO enforces laws by arresting immigration violators in the interior of the United States. It relies on statutory law enforcement authority to identify and arrest noncitizens who may present threats to national security or public safety, or who otherwise undermine the integrity of U.S. immigration laws. ERO uses targeted, intelligence-driven operations to prioritize its enforcement actions in ways that help protect communities nationwide. While ERO primarily conducts administrative arrests of noncitizens it has probable cause to believe are removable from the United States, it also has the authority to execute criminal arrest warrants and initiate prosecutions for criminal activity, including immigration-related crimes. ERO officers assigned to task forces also help target and apprehend foreign fugitives in the United States who are wanted for crimes here and abroad by working with domestic and international partners.

  • Arrests by country of citizenship and criminal history: ERO arrests are broken down by country of citizenship and categories of criminal history that include people with:
    • U.S. criminal convictions.
    • Pending criminal charges in the United States.
    • No convictions or pending charges but who have broken U.S. immigration laws including visa overstays and Visa Waiver Program violators.*

      *This category includes those who have repeatedly violated U.S. law by reentering after deportation, immigration fugitives with an executable final order of removal, and international fugitives wanted for crimes committed abroad.
    • For fiscal years 2021 and 2022, this category also includes individuals apprehended while attempting to unlawfully enter the United States after January 1, 2021.
  • ERO arrests over time: Historically, ERO most commonly arrests immigration violators with convictions involving DUI, drug possession, assault and criminal (non-civil) traffic offenses such as hit-and-run or leaving the scene of an accident.
  • Arrests by Area of Responsibility (AOR): ERO has 25 field offices, which are geographic areas of responsibility, around the country, each headed by a field office director.

Arrests

 ICE provides the above Arrests, Removal, Detention and Alternatives to Detention statistics for public use. ICE confirms the integrity of the data as published on this site and cannot attest to subsequent transmissions. Data fluctuate until "locked" at the conclusion of the fiscal year. These statistics are published with data one quarter in arrears.

*The Harlingen AOR was added from parts of San Antonio and Houston in FY2022.

Detention Statistics

Detention Statistics

ERO oversees the civil immigration detention of one of the most diverse and rapidly changing detained populations in the world. It houses noncitizens in approximately 130 facilities across the nation. The ERO Headquarters Custody Management and ICE Health Service Corps divisions help officers in the field manage the detained population and ensure detained noncitizens’ health and safety, ensure compliance with ICE’s detention standards, and provide medical care — including mental health care — to detained individuals.

ICE detains individuals as necessary, including to secure their presence for immigration proceedings and removal from the United States. ICE also detains those who are subject to mandatory detention under U.S. immigration law and those a supervisor has determined are public safety or flight risks.

After ICE arrests and processes individuals for administrative immigration violations or CBP and other state, local and federal law enforcement partners turn them over to ICE, officials may detain them while their immigration cases are pending or release them under a form of supervision. Both ICE and the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review — the office that oversees the immigration court system — can impact custody status at various points during a noncitizen’s immigration proceedings.

Officials make custody determinations on an individual basis, taking into account all facets of a person’s situation, including their immigration history and criminal records. Authorities also consider family ties, humanitarian issues and whether a person may be a flight risk.

ICE is committed to ensuring that all noncitizens in detention reside in safe, secure and humane environments under appropriate conditions of confinement. As of September 30, 2023, ICE used 163 facilities across the United States to house individuals in detention, including five ICE-owned Service Processing Centers, 13 ICE contract detention facilities, and 25 dedicated intergovernmental service agreement facilities. The other facilities are non-dedicated intergovernmental service agreement facilities, such as 76 U.S. Marshals Service contracts, 44 county jails, and several Bureau of Prisons institutions. In recent years, Congress has funded ICE to house an average daily detained population of 34,000.

Whenever possible, ICE seeks to house detained individuals within the geographical areas of their arrests to minimize their time in ICE custody and keep them close to family, friends and legal representatives.

Most detained individuals are transfers from CBP following arrests at the border. ICE is legally obligated to detain some of these people, including those with certain criminal histories.

If a noncitizen or their representative believes they should not be subject to enforcement, detention or removal, they should contact their local ERO field office to request a case review or initiate the ICE Case Review process. People who want to contact ICE about their cases should first notify their local ERO field office via email with supporting documentation for an initial review.

  • Detention by country of citizenship and criminal history: Detained individuals are categorized in the following ways:
    • Individuals with criminal convictions.
    • Individuals with pending criminal charges.
    • Those with no convictions or pending charges but who have broken U.S. immigration laws.*

      *The third category includes individuals without any known criminal convictions or pending charges who have repeatedly violated U.S. law by reentering after deportation; immigration fugitives with a final order of removal by an immigration judge; and foreign fugitives wanted for crimes committed abroad.
  • Detention over time: Most detained individuals are transfers from CBP following arrests made at the border. Higher numbers of border crossings are typically associated with higher detention numbers.

Detention

ICE provides the above Arrests, Removal, Detention and Alternatives to Detention statistics for public use. ICE confirms the integrity of the data as published on this site and cannot attest to subsequent transmissions. Data fluctuate until "locked" at the conclusion of the fiscal year. These statistics are published with data one quarter in arrears.

*The Harlingen AOR was added from parts of San Antonio and Houston in FY2022.

Removals & Expulsions

Removals & Expulsions

ICE’s authority to remove noncitizens exists under the Immigration and Nationality Act pursuant to Title 8 of the U.S. Code, sometimes called “Title 8 authority.”

Between March 2020 and May 2023, the Department of Homeland Security quickly expelled irregular border crossers from the United States under a public health order the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued March 21, 2020, sometimes called “Title 42 authority.”

Title 8: ICE principally removes noncitizens from the United States after they have received a final order of removal. These removal operations require complex coordination, management and facilitation efforts to successfully remove and return noncitizens from the United States. ERO accomplishes this mission through charter flights and on commercial airlines for escorted and unescorted removals, in addition to ground transportation missions on the northern and southern borders and at ports of entry.

ERO’s highest-profile removals generally comprise fugitives wanted for serious crimes in other countries, such as homicide, gang-related offenses, corruption and fraud. Often, these individuals come to ERO’s attention because of Interpol notices. Other high-profile removals include known or suspected terrorists, those involved in counterproliferation crimes, and those on the terrorist watch list and no-fly list. War criminals and others convicted or suspected of committing human rights abuses — including torture, ethnic cleansing and genocide — are also in this category. Authorities escort high-profile removals out of the country via commercial flights, regularly scheduled ICE charter flights and special high-risk charters. In many cases, the individuals are turned over to law enforcement authorities in their home country to face charges or sentencing.

Title 42: Title 42 is a public health authority guided by the CDC and is not an immigration authority. On March 21, 2020, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services transferred Title 42 Public Health Authority to CBP. Under Title 42, CBP prohibited the entry of certain people who potentially posed a health risk by being subject to previously announced travel restrictions or having unlawfully entered the country to bypass health screening measures. Under Title 42 authority, DHS rapidly expelled irregular border crossers to their country of last transit — Canada or Mexico — or, when such an expulsion was not possible, interagency partners engaged foreign government officials to secure noncitizens’ expulsion to their countries of origin.

Removals

ICE provides the above Arrests, Removal, Detention and Alternatives to Detention statistics for public use. ICE confirms the integrity of the data as published on this site and cannot attest to subsequent transmissions. Data fluctuate until "locked" at the conclusion of the fiscal year. These statistics are published with data one quarter in arrears.

*The Harlingen AOR was added from parts of San Antonio and Houston in FY2022.

ICE served a role in transporting noncitizens expelled under Title 42 via ICE charter flights.

The data in the chart below represents only Title 42 expulsions conducted by ICE via ICE charter flights. Effective May 11, 2023, President Joe Biden declared the end of the COVID-19 national emergency.

Comprehensive data related to Title 42 expulsions for the United States is available through CBP. For additional information, please visit CBP's Title 42 statistical report.

Expulsions

Individual T42 Expulsion flights may stop at multiple locations. ICE confirms the integrity of the data as published on this site and cannot attest to subsequent transmissions. Data fluctuates until “locked” at the conclusion of the fiscal year. These statistics are published with data one quarter in arrears.

Alternatives to Detention (ATD)

Alternatives to Detention (ATD)

The Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program is a noncitizen compliance tool overseen by ERO.

ATD uses technology and case management to more closely monitor cases assigned to the non-detained docket where detention is not necessary or appropriate. The level of supervision and technology participants are assigned is based on their current immigration status, criminal history, compliance history, community or family ties, caregiver or provider status, and other humanitarian or medical conditions. Officials may enroll noncitizens in ATD following a border apprehension by CBP or an ICE interior administrative arrest, or at a later stage in removal proceedings.

In fiscal year 2023, ICE’s ATD program deployed the following types of monitoring:

  • Facial matching technology: Facial matching technology allows participants to report compliance via an app installed on a noncitizen’s own smartphone or a dedicated government-issued device.
  • GPS monitoring: Satellites track participants’ location to ensure compliance with conditions of release.
  • Telephonic reporting (telephonic check-in): Phone calls are compared against a voiceprint obtained during enrollment.
  • Wrist worn device: Provides GPS monitoring, facial matching, and virtual case management functionality, including virtual check-ins and reminders. ICE is conducting a limited deployment of 50 wrist worn devices in the Denver AOR.

Alternatives to Detention

ICE provides the above Arrests, Removal, Detention and Alternatives to Detention statistics for public use. ICE confirms the integrity of the data as published on this site and cannot attest to subsequent transmissions. Data fluctuate until "locked" at the conclusion of the fiscal year. These statistics are published with data one quarter in arrears.

*The Harlingen AOR was added from parts of San Antonio and Houston in FY2022.

*Unknown Legal Stage: Legal stage data was unavailable when the record was produced. Data is extracted under a point-in-time scenario.

Additional Resources

Definitions

TermDefinition
AORAOR refers to the area of responsibility that ICE has identified as a geographic region for an action taken.
Arresting AgencyArresting agency is either CBP or ICE. Border patrol and inspections by air, land or sea are the program areas included within the CBP data.
ArrestsICE administrative arrests occur when an ICE officer physically apprehends a noncitizen for a non-criminal civil infraction. The immigration courts hear these cases. ICE civil immigration enforcement arrests do not always lead to detention.
ATDATD refers to ICE's Alternatives to Detention program. ATD is a flight-mitigation tool that uses technology and case management to ensure noncitizen compliance with release conditions, court hearings and final orders of removal while allowing them to remain in their communities as they move through the immigration process or prepare for departure from the United States.
CBPU.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Citizenship CountryCountry of citizenship of the noncitizen. Country of Citizenship is derived from the ICE system of record as it is input by the officer at the time of processing. An "Unknown" Country indicates the noncitizen failed or refused to identify a country of citizenship or the officer lacked documentation to do so at the time. Country of Birth or Citizenship can be updated at anytime during the Immigration Lifecycle by an Officer. These noncitizens can include those that were born in Palestine, West Bank, or the Gaza strip and considered Stateless.
CriminalityCriminality encompasses three categories: individuals with criminal convictions, people with pending criminal charges, and other immigration violators. Those with convictions are immigration violators who have a criminal conviction in ICE's system of record at the time of the enforcement action. Pending criminal charges refers to an immigration violator with pending criminal charges in ICE's system of record at the time of the enforcement action. Other immigration violators are individuals without any known criminal convictions or pending charges in ICE's system of record at the time of the enforcement action.
DetentionsThe detention data presented counts the number of initial book-ins into ICE facilities and does not include juveniles who are transferred to Office of Refugee Resettlement custody or housed in an ORR facility. U.S. Marshals Service prisoners are also excluded. Transfers between ICE facilities are not counted as new detention events, and noncitizens may be booked into ICE facilities more than once without triggering a new detention event.
Facial MonitoringFacial monitoring technology is a form of monitoring for ATD participants. It is a smartphone application that uses facial recognition technology to verify the user's identity and physical location. This application also provides video conferencing, community referrals, messaging between the noncitizen and an officer, document capturing, appointment reminders and a calendar.
GPS Ankle MonitorA GPS ankle monitor is a low-profile ankle bracelet that uses GPS to provide detailed information about an ATD participant's movement.
ICEU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
NoncitizensPeople without U.S. citizenship or nationality, which may include stateless people.
Removals

ICE removal data includes returns. Returns include:

  • Voluntary returns: Discretionary relief granted by an ICE officer at the border by permitting a noncitizen to depart the United States without a removal order and related immigration consequences.
  • Voluntary departures: Discretionary relief granted in removal proceedings or by an ICE officer in lieu of removal proceedings permitting a noncitizen to depart the United States voluntarily without a removal order and related immigration consequences.
  • Withdrawals under docket control: Discretionary relief granted by an ICE officer or immigration judge to a noncitizen encountered at a port of entry that permits the noncitizen to voluntarily withdraw an application for admission to the United States and depart the United States without a removal order and related immigration consequences.

ICE Removals include noncitizens processed for Expedited Removal (ER) or Voluntary Return (VR) that are turned over to ERO for detention. As of May 12, 2023, noncitizens processed for ER that were turned over from Border Patrol to ICE for removal via ICE Air are also included. Noncitizens processed for ER and not detained by ERO or VR after June 1, 2013, and not detained by ERO are primarily processed by Border Patrol. Those statistics are not included in this dashboard and are maintained by CBP. This does not include Title 42 expulsions.

Staging sites or S-sitesStaging sites, also known as S-Sites, are locations mostly along the Southwest Border that enroll participants being released from CBP or ICE custody. These participants are generally given fewer than 30 days to report to an ERO office in their final destination AOR. After a participant arrives in their AOR, local ATD officers determine their continued suitability in the ATD program and possible transition to other sites.
Telephonic Check-inTelephonic check-in is a form of monitoring in the ATD program and is a multilingual telephonic voice recognition system. Telephonic check-in automatically calls ATD program participants in one of 36 languages and validates participants’ voices against a master template resulting in pass or failure.
Wrist worn deviceProvides GPS monitoring, facial matching, and virtual case management functionality, including virtual check-ins and reminders.

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