Which ICE detention centers hold the largest number of lawful permanent residents in 2025?
Executive summary
Available reporting does not publish a definitive 2025 list ranking ICE detention centers by the number of lawful permanent residents (LPRs) they hold; public sources document rising overall detention totals and name several very large or fast-growing facilities but do not break out counts of LPRs by site (not found in current reporting). ICE’s published detention summaries and National Detention Standards describe system capacity and management but do not provide a per‑facility LPR breakdown [1] [2]; independent reporting cites high populations at specific sites such as the El Paso complex, Newark/Delaney Hall plans, and multiple reactivated private prisons but these stories focus on total detainees, not LPR counts [3] [4] [5].
1. No public source gives a clear “top LPR” facility — ICE releases aggregate, not per‑facility LPR counts
ICE’s detention management pages and 2025 National Detention Standards discuss facility lists, capacities and systemwide detention statistics, but they do not publish a regularly updated table of how many lawful permanent residents are held at each center [1] [2]. That gap means reporters and researchers must infer likely hotspots from overall detainee totals, facility capacity increases and investigative reporting rather than from an authoritative per‑site LPR roster [1] [2].
2. Which facilities appear repeatedly in 2025 coverage as large or growing — candidates for where many LPRs might be held
Multiple outlets name high‑capacity sites or facilities newly reactivated in 2025 that now hold large total detainee populations: the El Paso camp (reported as the single facility holding the most detainees in FY2026 reporting by TRAC) and reactivated state prisons run by GEO Group and CoreCivic [3] [5] [6]. Newark’s Delaney Hall was reopened with ~1,000 capacity and described as the East Coast’s largest processing/detention center — again these pieces report total detainees, not a breakdown by immigration status [4] [6].
3. Reporting shows detention growth and private operator reactivations — this shapes where LPRs could be concentrated
Investigations and research groups document an expansion of ICE bed capacity in 2025 (CoreCivic and GEO reopening sites, family residential centers reactivated), which has driven high overall populations and reliance on Texas and other state facilities; these trends make reopened large facilities likely focal points for LPR detention even if precise LPR counts aren’t published [6] [4] [3]. Vera Institute and advocacy reporting note that ICE’s network expanded rapidly and that family sites and large processing centers have been brought back online, increasing systemwide capacity [7] [6].
4. Journalistic and watchdog reporting documents many LPR detentions but lacks per‑site accounting
Opinion and investigative pieces recount individual LPR detentions (Lawful permanent residents detained after re‑entry or routine stops), and the New York Times and The Guardian highlight cases and aggregate statistics showing many people in detention were legal residents, but these do not supply a per‑facility LPR count [8] [9] [10]. Migration Policy Institute and others provide systemwide proportions (e.g., share without criminal convictions) but not the facility‑level LPR distribution [11] [10].
5. Data and methodological limits — why a definitive list would be hard to produce from available sources
ICE’s public pages list facilities, capacities, and systemwide YTD figures, but they do not publish detainee status (citizenship/LPR vs. other) at the facility level; independent databases (TRAC, Vera) produce daily or systemwide snapshots but draw on ICE releases and court/booking records that often do not include a per‑site status field or are delayed [1] [3] [7]. As a result, any attempt to name “the centers holding the largest numbers of LPRs in 2025” would require access to non‑public ICE administrative data or painstaking case‑level matching that is not available in the cited reporting [1] [3].
6. What the available sources do identify — hotspots for scrutiny and why
Reporting singles out certain large or fast‑growing sites—El Paso processing centers, reactivated GEO/CoreCivic prisons (e.g., California City, Leavenworth, Delaney Hall), and newly reopened family residential centers in Texas—as central to the 2025 detention surge; these are therefore the most plausible places where many LPRs could be held, according to capacity and anecdotal case reporting, though none of the sources supply an LPR headcount by site [3] [5] [6] [4].
7. Competing perspectives and policy context
ICE and DHS emphasize adherence to detention standards and targeted enforcement, arguing detainees receive care and that operations are lawful (DHS statements rebutting reporting are explicit) while journalists and advocates document rapid expansion, reactivated private facilities, and many non‑criminal and lawfully present people entering detention — the sources disagree on framing and emphasize different facts [12] [9] [6]. Both perspectives are visible in the public record: official pages on detention management and standards, and independent reporting and watchdog analyses of capacity growth and individual LPR cases [1] [2] [12] [9].
Conclusion — what can be said with confidence
Available sources confirm a dramatic expansion of ICE detention capacity and name several very large or newly reactivated facilities that now hold many detainees overall, but they do not provide the per‑facility counts of lawful permanent residents needed to answer your original question definitively [3] [5] [4] [1]. To produce a ranked list of centers holding the largest numbers of LPRs in 2025 would require access to ICE’s restricted administrative data or a dataset that explicitly links detainee immigration status to facility location — not present in the reporting cited here (not found in current reporting).