Quick Bytes
- ICE is underreporting the number of individuals in immigration detention, per GAO report.
- Discrepancies found in ICE data collection and reporting practices.
- Over 200,000 detainees in 2022 were not included in ICE’s reported figures.
- GAO recommends improvements in ICE’s data collection and public transparency.
Understanding ICE’s Detention Data Discrepancies
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report highlights significant underreporting of detainees by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The GAO discovered that ICE’s data contained errors, leading to a substantial undercount of the detained population. While ICE’s Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2023 cited a detained population of 36,845, the GAO suggests the actual number of individuals who passed through ICE detention in 2022 is closer to 280,000. This discrepancy arises from ICE’s failure to include individuals held in temporary facilities or transferred from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in their reported figures.
ICE’s accounting practices have excluded a significant portion of detainees, with 203,350 individuals not counted in 2022 alone. Many of these uncounted detainees were held for extended periods, contradicting ICE’s rationale for their exclusion. The GAO report also points out inconsistencies in data collection across different ICE field offices and a lack of clear guidelines for officers on recording enforcement actions.
The Biden administration’s 2021 memorandum introduced the Arrest Analysis Reporting Tool (AART) to track enforcement actions and prioritize certain cases. However, subsequent directives did not maintain this data collection requirement, leading to further confusion and inconsistency in ICE’s reporting.
For meaningful public oversight, the GAO recommends that ICE count all individuals temporarily detained and clarify its methodology for reporting detention figures. DHS is also urged to provide clear data recording instructions to officers and make data accessible to the public, either directly or through the Freedom of Information Act.
These steps are crucial for the public to gain a true understanding of the scope of immigration enforcement in the United States.
