How many US citizens were detained by ICE in 2024?
Executive summary
ICE’s FY2024 detention statistics—published as downloadable spreadsheets by ICE—are the primary official source for how many people the agency detained during 2024 (see ICE’s FY2024 Detention Statistics) [1]. Independent advocacy groups and reporters cite larger “over the last year” tallies (e.g., “more than 260,000 people” detained over a year) that count cumulative admissions; ICE’s daily‑population and book‑in metrics differ from those cumulative totals and from GAO’s finding that ICE’s public reporting understates total detentions [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. How ICE reports 2024 detentions — official dataset and definitions
ICE’s official FY2024 detention dataset is available as an Excel file that agencies, reporters and researchers use to count initial “book‑ins,” daily populations and other custody measures; that file is the authoritative ICE source cited for FY2024 figures [1]. ICE also publishes dashboards and biweekly statistics tied to a midnight “current population” snapshot [5] [6]. Those distinct metrics—initial book‑ins versus midnight population—produce very different headline numbers and must not be conflated [5] [1].
2. The difference between “detained at any one time” and “detained over the year”
Advocacy reports and briefs highlight that ICE “detained more than 260,000 people over the last year,” a cumulative admissions number that counts everyone who passed through ICE custody during a rolling 12‑month period [2] [3]. By contrast, ICE’s “current population” on single snapshot dates in December 2024 was roughly 39,000 to 40,000 people—an average daily or midnight census figure reported in other ICE and industry summaries [7] [5]. Both numbers are accurate within their definitions but answer different questions: one measures flow (how many people passed through), the other measures stock (how many were detained at a point in time) [1] [2].
3. Why GAO warns ICE public reports understate detentions
The U.S. Government Accountability Office analyzed ICE reporting and concluded ICE’s public detentions reporting omits certain temporary bookings (for example, people initially booked into temporary facilities before transfer), meaning ICE’s published totals can understate the full count of individuals detained during a period; GAO said these exclusions amount to “tens of thousands” of individuals and recommended clearer reporting [4]. That finding explains part of why outside tallies can exceed ICE’s headline public numbers [4].
4. Independent tallies and media reporting: different emphases
Non‑profit groups such as the National Immigrant Justice Center and Immigrant Justice Project emphasize cumulative admissions and human‑impact storytelling and therefore publicize the “more than 260,000 people” figure for a one‑year span ending in mid‑2024 [2] [3]. News outlets and research centers focus either on the daily population (e.g., about 39,000 on selected December 2024 dates) or on peak capacity claims later reported in 2025; Reuters and journalists’ guides stress the importance of parsing book‑ins, length of stay and daily bed counts to interpret enforcement trends [8] [9] [7].
5. Concrete numbers you can cite — and what each means
- Cumulative/flow: “more than 260,000 people detained over the last year” is the wording used by multiple immigrant‑rights reports to capture all individuals ICE processed in a 12‑month stretch [2] [3].
- Point‑in‑time/stock: ICE’s midnight census in December 2024 was reported at roughly 39,062 on Dec. 8 and 39,703 on Jan. 22, 2025 in materials tracking the current population [7].
- ICE’s own FY2024 dataset (Excel) is the primary source for book‑in and detention counts if you need to construct custom measures [1].
Note: GAO flagged that ICE’s public methodology can undercount detentions compared with the agency’s full internal records [4].
6. How journalists should report the figure responsibly
When answering “How many US citizens were detained by ICE in 2024?” the available sources do not break out “U.S. citizens” as a distinct subtotal in the cited FY2024 detention dataset or the advocacy summaries provided here; ICE’s public files and the advocacy documents focus on noncitizen detentions, cumulative admissions and daily population counts (available sources do not mention a separate U.S. citizen count) [1] [2] [3] [4]. Reporters must therefore: (a) specify whether they mean “U.S. citizens” vs. noncitizens, (b) specify whether they mean “cumulative over 12 months” or “point‑in‑time,” and (c) cite ICE’s FY2024 spreadsheet or GAO’s critique to support methodological claims [1] [4].
7. Bottom line and recommended next steps for verification
There is no single number in these sources that answers “How many US citizens were detained by ICE in 2024” because the cited ICE and independent documents focus on noncitizen detentions, cumulative admissions and point‑in‑time populations—and GAO says public reporting omits some bookings [1] [4] [2]. To get an authoritative answer on U.S. citizens specifically, request a DHS/ICE data extract or FOIA for citizen status breakdowns from the FY2024 book‑in records in ICE’s detention dataset [1] [4].