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What percentage of ICE detainees are U.S. citizens versus noncitizens?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows ICE detention totals have been unusually high in 2025 — often cited around 59,000–65,000 people in custody — and multiple news and research outlets report that a large majority of those booked into ICE custody had no criminal conviction beyond immigration or traffic-related offenses (CNN: “more than 75%”; TRAC: 73.6%) [1] [2] [3]. Available sources do not provide a clear, authoritative percentage breakdown of ICE detainees who are U.S. citizens versus noncitizens; several outlets say the federal government does not systematically track how many U.S. citizens are detained by immigration agents [4] [5].
1. What the official numbers say — high detention counts, but not a citizenship split
ICE’s public statistics and widely cited trackers show detention rosters in 2025 at record levels — frequently cited figures include about 59,000 detained (American Immigration Council) and roughly 65,000 held nationally in some reporting windows [1] [2]. Those datasets and media summaries focus on total population, nationalities of noncitizen detainees, and criminal-history categories rather than publishing a definitive percentage of detainees who are U.S. citizens versus noncitizens; available ICE pages and the tracking projects cited in these search results do not yield a clear citizen/noncitizen percentage [6] [2].
2. Independent trackers and reportage on detainee characteristics
Independent outlets and research groups emphasize that most people in ICE custody in 2025 lacked prior criminal convictions (CNN reported “more than 75%” had no criminal conviction beyond immigration or traffic offenses; TRAC put a similar figure at 73.6%) [3] [2]. These findings speak to the composition of the detained population by criminal history, not directly to citizenship status; the same reporting often highlights that many detained are long‑term residents, legal permanent residents, or otherwise lawfully present — but those are categories distinct from U.S. citizenship [7] [3].
3. Reporting about U.S. citizens detained — known cases but no systematic count
Multiple outlets and compilations document instances where U.S. citizens or people “here legally” have been detained by ICE, and investigations have raised concerns about wrongful detentions and data gaps (The New York Times opinion pieces, Just Security analysis, and Wikipedia summaries cite cases and critique ICE practices) [8] [9] [4] [10]. Crucially, reporting and the Wikipedia entries state that as of 2025 the federal government does not track how many citizens have been detained by immigration agents, which explains why a percentage breakdown is not available in public datasets [4] [5].
4. Why a precise citizen vs. noncitizen percentage is elusive
The absence of a government-tracked nationality/citizenship breakdown for “detainees who later turn out to be citizens” — and the fact that many media analyses rely on ICE snapshots focused on noncitizen nationalities or on criminal-history categories — creates a gap: researchers can count known citizen-detention cases and point to anecdotal or litigated examples, but they cannot produce a rigorous nationwide percentage from the cited sources because the government does not report that metric [6] [4] [5].
5. Competing interpretations and possible agendas in coverage
Advocacy and watchdog outlets emphasize harms, wrongful detentions, and the claim that ICE is detaining people “here legally” or even citizens, using those anecdotes to argue for policy change (The New York Times opinion, Just Security, and other critiques) [8] [9] [10]. Conversely, government statements cited in reporting defend enforcement actions and reject claims that ICE is broadly targeting citizens; CNN notes DHS saying allegations smear agents and that the agency “routinely debunked” assertions it targets U.S. citizens [3]. Readers should note the implicit agendas: advocacy pieces highlight human‑rights and due‑process harms, while government rebuttals emphasize law enforcement objectives and officer safety [8] [3].
6. What to watch for if you need a concrete figure
If you want a precise citizen vs. noncitizen percentage, the available sources indicate two paths: (a) seek FOIA or academic analyses that isolate cases where citizenship was later confirmed in detention records (several watchdogs have tried this), or (b) look for official ICE/DHS releases that change reporting practice. As of the documents and reporting indexed here, the federal government is not publishing a nationwide, authoritative percentage of citizens detained by immigration agents [4] [5].
Limitations and bottom line
Available sources document large, record detention populations and emphasize that most detainees lack criminal convictions, and they document individual citizen‑detention cases — but they also state explicitly that the government does not track total detained U.S. citizens, so a reliable, sourced percentage split between U.S. citizens and noncitizens is not available in the cited reporting [2] [3] [4].