Are there public dashboards or visualizations that show ICE detention counts by status, facility, and state?
Executive summary
Yes. The federal government and multiple non‑profit research organizations publish public dashboards and downloadable datasets that show ICE detention counts by facility, state, and detainee status: ICE’s own Enforcement and Removal Operations statistics and detention tables now include dashboards through December 31, 2024 (ICE site) [1], DHS/OHSS publishes monthly detention tables and KHSM detentions tables [2] [3], and independent dashboards from Vera and the Deportation Data Project aggregate day‑level stints across thousands of facilities and years (Vera: 1,397 facilities through June 10, 2025; Deportation Data Project: dataset through Oct. 15, 2025) [4] [5].
1. Federal dashboards: ICE’s renewed public statistics
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) statistics page hosts interactive dashboards that the agency says present arrests, detentions, removals and alternatives to detention as of December 31, 2024, and provides counts by geography and program area (ICE ERO dashboards) [1]. The DHS Office of Health and Safety Statistics (OHSS) supplements that with monthly immigration enforcement tables — including book‑ins/book‑outs, detentions and removals by citizenship, criminality and arresting agency — and an ICE Detentions KHSM series with methodological notes about counting and duplicate events [2] [3].
2. Independent aggregators: Vera Institute’s facility‑level time series
The Vera Institute’s ICE Detention Trends dashboard provides an interactive, day‑by‑day visualization of ICE detention populations across 1,397 unique facility codes covering October 1, 2008 through June 10, 2025. Vera’s tool lets users map detention population changes over time and download underlying data via GitHub [4] [6]. Vera notes the dataset comes from FOIA releases and collaborators (ACLU, David Hausman) and documents differences and caveats across datasets used in the dashboard [7].
3. Litigation and researcher releases: Deportation Data Project
The Deportation Data Project obtained extensive ICE records through litigation and now publishes data and tools that cover arrests, detainer requests and detentions through Oct. 15, 2025; reporters and researchers have used this release for investigations and interactive analyses [5] [8]. The New York Times and other outlets used Deportation Data Project records to produce searchable analyses of every ICE arrest and detention in the released period [8] [5].
4. What these tools show — and what they don’t
Together, federal dashboards and independent visualizations enable counts by facility, state and status (e.g., book‑ins/book‑outs, alternatives to detention) and can produce daily or monthly snapshots [1] [4] [2]. Vera explicitly offers facility‑level daily counts across 1,397 facilities and provides the raw files for researchers to reproduce visualizations [4] [6]. OHSS tables provide event‑level monthly tables with breakdowns by citizenship and criminality [2] [3]. Available sources do not mention whether every dashboard provides a single unified API for automated, real‑time pulls; researchers rely on dataset downloads and FOIA releases for programmatic access (not found in current reporting).
5. Data quality, counting rules and comparability caveats
All sources warn users to mind counting rules: OHSS counts immigration events (people can be counted multiple times if booked in/out multiple times) and distinguishes book‑ins from transfers; Vera notes dataset differences across FOIA releases and left‑censoring issues at date boundaries; ICE’s dashboards include footnotes and facility‑level caveats [3] [7] [1]. These methodological differences can produce apparent discontinuities when comparing ICE’s official dashboards with FOIA‑derived reconstructions — Vera flags that facility counts and time breaks may reflect how ICE compiled different datasets, not only population change [7].
6. Why multiple dashboards matter politically and journalistically
Independent dashboards exist because government publication has been intermittent: reporting shows ICE stopped updating a previous public dashboard at one point and researchers sued to force releases; the Deportation Data Project’s release and Vera’s FOIA‑based tools have been essential for reporters analyzing enforcement trends [9] [5]. Competing narratives arise: DHS spokespeople cite high criminality rates in ICE arrests while data analyses (from deportation data and news outlets) show many arrested people lack U.S. criminal convictions — a point made in NYT reporting based on the litigation release [8].
7. Practical next steps for a researcher or reporter
Use ICE’s ERO dashboards and OHSS monthly tables for official counts and metadata [1] [2]. Cross‑check facility and daily time‑series with Vera’s Detention Trends dashboard and GitHub for replicable, facility‑level stints [4] [6]. For the most recent raw arrest/detention event files through Oct. 15, 2025, consult the Deportation Data Project release used by major outlets [5] [8]. Always read the dataset appendices and KHSM notes to avoid double‑counting or misinterpreting events [7] [3].
Limitations: my summary relies solely on the provided sources; if you need direct links, file names, or the specific data fields available in each dashboard I can extract those next from the pages cited here [1] [4] [5] [2].