DHS and ICE official tallies exclude detainees held in new state-run facilities, short-term holding rooms, and at military bases, producing an undercount of people in custody. The detained population has risen to about 60,000, surpassing earlier peaks this year and records from 2019, according to TRAC and recent data. State-run facilities such as the Everglades "Alligator Alcatraz" housed roughly 700 after opening in July but faced a federal court order to stop receiving migrants and closure; the state plans to appeal. DHS continues to expand detention capacity through more state contracts and facility use.
The catch: The Department of Homeland Security's tally doesn't include detainees in new facilities such as those in Florida's now-infamous "Alligator Alcatraz," spaces designated as short-term "holding rooms," and military bases. The numbers continue to balloon as Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown escalates in cities nationwide and DHS inks more deals to detain immigrants ahead of trying to deport them. By the numbers: The 60,000immigrants now in detention top previous peaks set this year and in 2019, during Trump's first term, data through Aug. 10 show.
"It's evident that the numbers being published by ICE about people held in long-term residential facilities is severely undercounting the number of people who are in ICE custody at any given moment," said Amelia Dagen, a staff attorney at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights. Zoom out: Most of the immigrants held at the state-run "Alligator Alcatraz" in Ochopee, Fla., don't appear in ICE's detention documents, which are updated roughly bimonthly for congressional oversight. About 700 people were there after it opened in July, according to news reports.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Everglades facility no longer could accept migrants and should close. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Fox News he plans to appeal the decision, which followed activists' claims that the facility's environmental impacts weren't studied properly. DHS is charging forward with plans for more state-run facilities nationwide.
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