Tracking ICE’s rapidly growing national detention system is not easy, and knowing where to look for up-to-date data can be confusing. That’s why Adam Sawyer at Relevant Research created Detention Reports, a free public tool that provides facility-level reports for every active ICE detention center in the country.
The site updates every time ICE publishes new detention data, typically about every two weeks. Each report includes our Interval ADP calculations, which offer more accurate population estimates than ICE’s fiscal-year averages, alongside data on detainee classification, criminal status, average length of stay, and available contracts. The goal is to make detention data accessible to reporters, researchers, advocates, policymakers, and anyone trying to understand how this system operates.
For more background on the project, see our initial announcement and first update explaining the site’s features and methodology.
We have just added three major features to the site:
Feature #1: Interactive National Map. Visualize all 237 detention facilities across the country
Feature #2: Facility Comparison Scatter Plots. See where each facility fits within the national network
Feature #3: Detention Contracts Archive. Access publicly available ICE detention contracts
If you have questions about the methodology, want to discuss specific findings, or have suggestions for improving the site, reach out to Adam on Bluesky, where he posts regular updates and observations or at [email protected]. We built this tool to be useful, and that means listening to how people actually use it.
Adam Sawyer @adamjst.bsky.social
We have updated DetentionReports.com with the most recently released data from ICE. Many people have asked that we add a map to the home page. We have added this feature. Click one of the blue icons to proceed to the report of the corresponding detention facility. detentionreports.com
New Feature #1: National Map of Detention Centers
Detention Reports now includes an interactive map of all ICE detention facilities currently holding people. This was our most frequently requested feature.
The map displays every facility with an active report on the site. You can zoom in, pan across the country, and click any blue flag to jump directly to that facility’s report. We maintained our search functions and filtering options, but the map offers an intuitive way to explore the national detention network visually.
Mapping detention facilities might seem like an obvious first step. The addresses are available in ICE’s biweekly detention spreadsheet, and locations are straightforward to automate using GIS or off-the-shelf online applications. The real work has been compiling and refining the individual facility reports, validating the data, and making those reports accessible. The map brings it all together.
As a geographer, I believe in the power of visualization. Seeing the spatial distribution of detention facilities reveals patterns that tables and lists obscure. The map shows those patterns immediately.
At 237 facilities, the network has roughly doubled in size since the start of the Trump administration. Detention facilities used to concentrate along the border and in the South, particularly in places like Louisiana. The geography of ICE’s national detention network has expanded dramatically alongside a nearly $50 billion influx of funding from Congress late last year. With the sole exception of Oregon and Washington state, most people in the country now live much closer to a detention facility than they used to. The map makes this geographic expansion visible in a way that spreadsheets cannot.
We will continue to refine this feature based on use and feedback. I am grateful to Adam and his team for making this happen.
New Feature #2: Comparing Detention Centers by Population and Length of Stay
Each facility report now includes a scatter plot that shows where the facility fits within ICE’s national detention system along two dimensions the public frequently asks about: average recent population size and average length of stay.
The horizontal axis displays the facility’s Interval ADP, the backward-moving average we developed to capture more accurate population estimates than ICE’s fiscal-year data. The vertical axis shows average length of stay in days. Together, these two measures offer a snapshot of a facility’s operational profile.
The scatter plot divides facilities into four rough categories: those with low populations and shorter stays, those with larger populations and shorter stays, those with low populations but longer stays, and those with larger populations and longer stays. The facility for whichever report you’re viewing appears as a highlighted triangle on the chart, accompanied by a subtitle describing where it sits within the national network.
This visualization makes it easy to situate any individual facility in context. You can grab these charts and cite them in your reporting, student papers, or academic articles with attribution.
To illustrate the four quadrants, consider these examples:
Crow Wing County Jail (43 Interval ADP, 10-day average stay) represents facilities with smaller populations and shorter stays.
Alexandria Staging Facility (370 Interval ADP, 2-day average stay) shows a larger population with shorter stays, reflecting its role as a staging facility for deportation flights.
Torrance/Estancia, NM (273 Interval ADP, 106-day average stay) sits among facilities with smaller populations but longer detention periods.
Moshannon Valley Processing Center (1,727 Interval ADP, 52-day average stay) represents facilities with larger populations and longer stays.
New Feature #3: ICE Detention Contracts Now Available
ICE began posting detention contracts on its website at the end of 2025. These documents appear in the agency’s RSS feed but not in its news releases, making them easy to miss unless you track ICE communications closely. I cannot say whether this arrangement is intentional. Given the volume of contracts being posted, it makes sense that ICE might not want to clutter its main news page. At the same time, a dedicated, well-organized repository would serve the public better than scattering these documents across an RSS feed.
Once we noticed ICE posting these contracts, we began capturing and archiving them in Detention Reports. You can now find them at the bottom of each facility report page under a “Contracts” section. Not every facility has contracts available, and some facilities have multiple contracts posted. When contracts exist for a facility, you can download them directly from the report page.
I want to be clear about what this feature does and does not offer. We are making these contracts accessible, not analyzing them. I have not conducted any systematic review of contract terms, provisions, or patterns across facilities. If you have questions about what specific contracts say or how to interpret their legal language, I cannot help with that. What I can do is point you to the documents themselves so you can examine them directly.
If you work with procurement data, contract analysis, or detention facility oversight, I would welcome your insights. How might these contracts be turned into structured research data? What patterns or provisions should advocates and researchers be watching for? If you can help provide context or analytical frameworks for making sense of these documents, please reach out.
Making Detention Data Work for the Public
ICE’s detention system is expanding at an unprecedented pace. Making sense of that expansion requires making the limited data ICE releases publicly accessible and understandable. That means tools that turn spreadsheets into insight, that make facility-level information accessible to reporters on deadline, researchers conducting analysis, and advocates tracking conditions on the ground.
Adam and I remain committed to doing everything we can to make this data available and understandable. DetentionReports.com represents that commitment. The site continues to evolve based on what users need and how they use it.
The tool is already having an impact. Detention Reports data has been cited in recent news coverage, including the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy’s analysis “ICE Enforcement in Kentucky”. Most significantly, the American Immigration Council drew on our data for their authoritative report “Immigration Detention Under the Trump Administration: The First Year”, documenting the scale and scope of detention expansion during Trump’s first year in office.
This is why we built DetentionReports.com. When reporters, researchers, and advocates have access to validated, current data, they can hold the system accountable. We will keep refining the tool to make sure it serves that purpose.