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Is ice detaining legal immagrants
Executive summary
ICE is detaining large numbers of people — including many without serious criminal convictions — and reporting has documented arrests at courthouses, workplaces and streets as well as secretive short-term holding that may violate agency policy (TrAC data: ~59,762 detained as of Sept. 21, 2025; Guardian and CNN reporting on tactics and holding-room practices) [1] [2] [3]. Advocates, courts and watchdogs say some detentions include people who were in the U.S. legally or who showed up for immigration hearings; litigation and oversight reporting challenge ICE’s practices and transparency [4] [5] [6].
1. ICE is detaining many people — official counts and trends
Independent trackers and reporting show ICE custody numbers in 2025 at tens of thousands: TrAC listed 59,762 people in ICE detention as of September 21, 2025 [1]. Other outlets and law firms cite record highs and large budgets for expanded enforcement and detention in 2025, pointing to a rapid increase in arrests and facility usage [7] [8]. Available sources do not provide a full, up-to-the-minute government dashboard because ICE’s public data streams have gaps or stopped updating timely during 2025 [6].
2. Many people arrested into ICE custody lack serious criminal records
Multiple investigations report that a large share of those taken into ICE custody do not have violent criminal convictions; one analysis cited by Human Rights Watch and CNN shows fewer than 7% had violent records and that more than 75% of bookings in FY2025 lacked a criminal conviction beyond immigration or traffic matters [8] [3]. These figures underpin advocacy claims that enforcement priorities have broadened beyond “the worst of the worst” [3].
3. ICE arrests are happening in public-facing settings, including courts and workplaces
Reporting documents ICE operations at workplaces, streets and — notably — immigration courthouses, where people who appear for hearings have been detained, sometimes immediately after judges dismiss or close cases [5] [3]. The National Immigrant Justice Center and other groups have filed lawsuits alleging unlawful courthouse arrests that turn neutral legal forums into sites of enforcement [5].
4. Allegations of detaining people who are legally present or even U.S. citizens
Opinion and investigative pieces, plus watchdog reporting, recount cases where people who say they entered or remained legally were nonetheless detained; outlets have also documented instances where U.S. citizens were mistakenly detained, prompting congressional attention and proposed legislation to bar ICE from targeting citizens [4] [9] [10]. Available sources show these incidents are part of broader legal and political fights over authority and oversight; they do not establish systemic administrative intent but do document repeated or high-profile mistakes [10].
5. Secretive holding rooms and policy compliance concerns
The Guardian’s investigation alleges ICE kept people in small, secretive holding rooms for days or weeks — a practice the paper says violated federal policy — and suggests agency memos and capacity pressures shaped this approach [2]. That reporting, together with litigation discovery that revealed inconsistencies about food and oversight, feeds claims that detention practices have outpaced policy or oversight [2].
6. Data transparency and limitations in reporting
The Marshall Project documents gaps in public detention and arrest data since the second Trump administration took office in 2025, noting ICE’s public arrest dashboard stalled at 2024 and that federal reporting streams used by researchers are incomplete [6]. That lack of transparent, consistent government data complicates efforts to quantify exactly who is being detained, under what authority, and for how long [6].
7. Competing perspectives and what each side emphasizes
Advocates and civil-rights groups emphasize harm to non-criminal migrants, wrongful detention of legal residents or citizens, and allegedly secretive holding practices [5] [2] [10]. Government and DHS statements cited by outlets argue agents are enforcing the law against unauthorized presence and that critics “smear” enforcement; GOP lawmakers have pushed legislation strengthening protections for officers and enforcement tools [3] [11]. Both sides invoke public safety, legal authority and procedure; available sources document clashes in narratives and ongoing litigation.
8. What the sources do not say (limits you should note)
Available sources do not provide a definitive, centralized legal analysis in this dataset about the precise statutory limits on ICE’s detention authority in every factual scenario; they do not include ICE’s most current internal policy text or a full government accounting of detention rationale for specific arrests [6]. Where courts have ruled (e.g., injunctions or decisions), specific case citations and full judicial reasoning are reported in some coverage but are not exhaustively included in these sources [7] [5].
Bottom line: reporting across news outlets, watchdogs and advocacy groups documents expansive ICE enforcement in 2025, frequent detention of people without violent records, documented courthouse and workplace arrests, and concerns about secretive holding practices and data transparency — all of which have spawned litigation, congressional proposals and sharp public debate [1] [3] [2] [5].