How many lawful permanent residents (green card holders) have been detained by ICE in 2023?

1. What the record in these stories actually shows — examples, not totals

Reporting in the provided documents highlights individual and small-series cases of green card holders being detained—e.g., an Irish green-card holder held over old misdemeanors (Newsweek) and a German national detained after returning through an airport (Newsweek; NBC) — but these are case reports rather than agency tallies ^{[4] [5] [1]}. Newsweek and other outlets say they have “revealed dozens of cases” involving documented immigrants swept up in ICE actions, but “dozens” is not a precise annual total and the article excerpts do not convert those investigations into a 2023 count ^[1].

2. Why a single 2023 number may be hard to find in news reporting

The sources show two reasons why an exact 2023 LPR detention count isn’t present here: journalists publish case-based stories (illustrative examples) rather than exhaustive internal ICE datasets, and legal primers and advocacy materials focus on legal authority and individual rights rather than serialization of total detentions ^{[3] [2] [6]}. Where outlets compile figures, it’s usually for all migrants taken into detention across many categories, not broken down publicly in these excerpts by lawful permanent resident status for a single year (available sources do not mention a 2023 LPR total).

3. What the legal framework and enforcement practice described in sources imply

Multiple pieces explain that lawful permanent residents can be detained and placed in removal proceedings if officers suspect they are “deportable” under the Immigration and Nationality Act—grounds include certain criminal convictions, fraud, or inadmissibility at ports of entry—so detentions of green card holders are lawful under existing statutes and have been reported in recent enforcement operations ^{[3] [2]}. That framework helps explain why case reporting shows LPRs appearing in detention rosters: detention can follow suspicion of deportability or re-entry inspections at airports and borders ^{[3] [2]}.

4. Competing interpretations in the reporting

Some legal-advice and practitioner pieces assert ICE is not “broadly targeting” green card holders even as they warn LPRs are not immune—e.g., an immigration law firm advises LPRs to be cautious while saying ICE is not conducting blanket arrests of green card holders ^[7]. Journalistic pieces, by contrast, document instances and patterns—such as “dozens” of documented cases and stories about enforcement operations—that critics interpret as aggressive enforcement that can sweep up documented immigrants ^{[1] [4]}. Both views appear in this set: legal counsel emphasizes individual risk-management; reporters emphasize realized harms and enforcement outcomes ^{[7] [1]}.

5. What numbers the sources do provide, and what they don’t

Some articles give counts for overall detainees in broader windows (an NBC story cited a multi-year tally in a later 2025 piece), but the supplied excerpts do not supply an authoritative ICE figure specifically enumerating “how many LPRs were detained in 2023” ^[8]. Therefore the sources here cannot be used to produce a verified 2023 LPR detention total—attempting to state a firm number would go beyond what these documents support (available sources do not mention a 2023 LPR total).

6. How to reliably get the exact number if you need it

To obtain a precise 2023 count, the most direct sources would be ICE’s own detention and enforcement statistics (annual reports, FOIA disclosures, or internal datasets) or a systematic data-driven investigation by a reputable news organization or research group that disaggregates detainees by immigration status. The current documents point readers toward legal context and case examples; they do not quote an ICE-issued or third‑party disaggregated 2023 LPR detention total (available sources do not mention where a verified 2023 LPR total is published) ^{[3] [2] [1]}.

7. Bottom line for readers evaluating claims

If you encounter a claim that X number of green card holders were detained by ICE in 2023, ask for the primary source: an ICE dataset or a documented, replicable analysis. The reporting here documents that green card holders have been detained and that dozens of such cases have been reported, but the provided material does not substantiate a definitive, agency-backed 2023 total ^{[1] [4] [5]}.