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What are the locations and names of ICE detention centers in 2024?
Executive Summary
ICE operated a large, dispersed network of detention facilities in and before 2024, ranging from dedicated ICE processing centers to county jails holding immigration detainees; reporting and advocacy groups counted well over 100 locations and some analyses put the number of distinct sites above 200 when subcontracted jails and shelters are included. Major reporting in 2024–2025 identified specific expansion moves — including reopened or added capacity in New Jersey, Ohio, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Mississippi, and consideration of military bases — while comprehensive, up-to-date enumerations remain fragmented across government lists, ICE facility pages, and independent maps [1] [2] [3].
1. What the various analyses actually claim about facility names and locations — the simple extraction readers ask for
Multiple sources and compiled analyses converge on the claim that ICE’s operational footprint in 2024 included both long-standing, well-known ICE facilities and numerous county or private jails under contract. Reported specific facility names and locations that appear across analyses include Delaney Hall in Newark, the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, Nevada Southern Detention Center, Cimarron Correctional Facility in Oklahoma, and Tallahatchie Correctional Facility in Mississippi; independent tracking also names Adelanto (California), Boise (Idaho), Brighton (Colorado), and Aguadilla (Puerto Rico) among others [1] [4]. Advocacy and ICE-maintained lists differ in scope: ICE’s published directory and field office pages enumerate facilities by state and type, while NGOs and journalists compile interactive maps that often include subcontracted jails and shelters not clearly labeled in agency inventories [3] [2].
2. Where researchers and journalists disagree — gaps, outdated lists, and overlapping counts
Published inventories diverge because of differing inclusion rules and update cadences: government lists historically enumerate Contract Detention Facilities, Inter-governmental Service Agreement sites, and Service Processing Centers, but many public documents are outdated or slow to reflect new contracts; one flagged source had data from 2009 and thus does not represent 2024 reality [5]. Independent projects and news outlets produce more current snapshots and highlight expansions through 2024 and early 2025, but they sometimes count facilities differently — some count each county jail separately, others count only ICE-dedicated centers — yielding totals that range from “over 100” to “over 200” depending on the methodology [2] [6]. This methodological divergence is central to reconciling lists and explaining why no single, universally agreed master list exists.
3. Recent expansion activity and named facilities journalists highlighted in 2024–2025 coverage
Reporting in late 2024 and early 2025 documented concrete expansion activity: a reopened or expanded Delaney Hall in Newark with roughly 1,000 beds, added space or renewed contracts at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, Nevada Southern Detention Center, Cimarron Correctional Facility, and Tallahatchie Correctional Facility, and consideration of temporary or emergency use of military installations such as Fort Bliss, Texas [1]. These items are presented as factual commitments or proposals in press coverage and NGO compendia; the reporting indicates a deliberate push to add capacity in several regions rather than merely administrative relabeling, but precise operational start dates and contractual terms vary across sources and are not uniform in publicly available summaries [1] [3].
4. Geographic scale and types of sites — how states and facility types matter to the count
Analyses show that ICE detention in 2024 spanned many states and territories with notable concentration in Texas, Louisiana, California, Georgia, and Arizona when measured by average daily population, while the roster of named facilities spreads across states including Arizona, California, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, and others [2] [6]. The network mixes dedicated ICE processing centers (like Adelanto), private prison-run facilities (such as Nevada Southern), and county jails holding detainees under contract; counting all three categories together raises the facility tally substantially compared with counting only ICE-branded sites, which explains widely differing counts reported by NGOs and media [2] [3].
5. Contested narratives and why the public lists can be politically charged
Different stakeholders emphasize different facts for policy or advocacy aims: journalists and NGOs highlight expansions and poor conditions to press for reform or closure, while government lists emphasize contractual and operational categories without always noting current bed usage; this produces apparent conflicts over both numbers and the identity of “ICE detention centers.” The sources show clear agendas — expansion reporting tends to come from investigative outlets and NGOs focused on detention impacts, while ICE facility pages serve administrative transparency goals without necessarily capturing rapid contract changes — making independent verification essential for any definitive 2024 snapshot [1] [3] [5].
6. Where to go for the most reliable, up-to-date facility list and what caveats remain
For an operational list in 2024, the most reliable approach combines ICE’s official Detention Facility Inventory and field office pages with NGO-maintained interactive maps that track contract changes and site re-openings; researchers should cross-check named facilities like Delaney Hall (Newark), Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, Nevada Southern, Cimarron, Tallahatchie, and nationally known sites such as Adelanto against both government directories and recent investigative pieces to confirm status [3] [1] [2]. All sources should be read with the caveat that inclusion criteria vary and that contract awards, temporary emergency placements, and local jail arrangements can change counts rapidly; readers seeking an exact 2024 master list must reconcile government inventories with contemporaneous reporting and NGO datasets for a complete picture [5] [6].