Skip to main content
DetentionReceipts

INSIDE DETENTION

Detention is not one building. It is a system of enforced dependency.

People in ICE custody depend on facility-controlled systems for water, food, movement, sleep, medication, emergency care, legal access, family contact, grievances, and transfer information. The records show what happens when those systems fail.

This is a source-bounded composite. Conditions vary by facility, housing unit, operator, standard, and period. Every detail below links to the records that support it.

This page brings together records already published across the site. It adds no new finding. It creates no facility, no operator role, no inspection result, no litigation record, no person and no death record, and it authorises no new dollar total.

01

CURRENT SNAPSHOT

Different counts answer different questions. The interface must expose the denominator instead of choosing the least alarming number and hoping nobody reads the footnotes.

65,765 people were in ICE detention on July 11, 2026.

TRAC reported that 70.6% had no criminal conviction.

What this does not establish

A conviction-status snapshot does not resolve pending charges, individual risk, or the legality of detention.

The public list is smaller than the custody network.

Facility counts by scope · as of 2026-08-22
  • ICE acknowledged220 facilities

    Scope · website inventory, February 2026

  • Operationally used456 facilities

    Scope · Vera analysis, excluding medical facilities, February 2026

  • ↳ Hold / staging inside operational count160 facilities

    Scope · subset of 456 · counted inside “Operationally used”

  • Historical locations1,490 distinct locations

    Scope · FY2009 through March 10, 2026

What this does not establish

These figures are nested or overlapping scopes, not four estimates of one identical universe.

Table equivalent of this figure
Facility counts, each with the scope and period its source measured.
CountUnitScope
220facilitieswebsite inventory, February 2026
456facilitiesVera analysis, excluding medical facilities, February 2026
160facilitiessubset of 456
1,490distinct locationsFY2009 through March 10, 2026
02

A passing grade is not a safety rating.

The major inspection bodies ask different questions and inspect different samples. Their results should be compared without pretending they share one denominator.

What this does not establish

Different scope, sampling and method. These three ratios are not measurements of the same thing and no combined pass rate is valid.

ODO

238 of 241

acceptable or above

Denominator · 241

ICE's own inspection of record. 241 inspections, fiscal years 2022–2024.

The official inspection-of-record usually passes.

OIDO

31 of 33

noncompliance with concern-linked standard

Denominator · 33

Complaint- and concern-driven targeted inspections. 33 inspections, same period.

Complaint-driven inspections found problems far more often.

DHS OIG

12 of 12

published reports with deficiencies

Denominator · 12

Independent published inspection reports. 12 reports, same period.

Independent reports repeatedly documented material failures.

03

What the reviewed records establish

Each finding prints its own cutoff and evidence class. Open a finding for the records behind it and the questions it leaves open.

The custody population is large, and most people in the current snapshot have no criminal conviction

As of July 11, 2026 · observed data

Civil detention is not a synonym for post-conviction imprisonment.

Records behind this finding

TRAC reported 65,765 people in ICE detention on July 11, 2026. It reported that 46,436, or 70.6%, had no criminal conviction.

What the record establishes

  • The reported custody population and conviction-status distribution on the cited date.
  • ICE civil detention cannot be accurately described as a system holding only people with criminal convictions.

What it does not establish

  • That every person without a conviction had no pending charge.
  • That every detention decision was lawful or unlawful.
  • That conviction status predicts danger or flight risk.

The operational detention footprint is much larger than the conventional public list

As of March 31, 2026 · source attributed analysis

The brochure is not the system.

Records behind this finding

Vera reported that ICE used 456 facilities in February 2026, excluding medical facilities, while acknowledging 220 on its website. The operational count included 160 hold and staging sites that are largely excluded from routine statistics.

What the record establishes

  • Different facility counts describe materially different scopes.
  • Hold and staging sites are part of the operational custody network.

What it does not establish

  • That the 456 locations are equivalent in size, function, duration, or conditions.
  • That 456 is a complete current count after March 2026.
  • That every omitted location was intentionally concealed.

Official inspection grades are poorly calibrated to independent findings

As of September 30, 2024 · supported conclusion

A pass is a dated bureaucratic conclusion, not a safety badge.

Records behind this finding

GAO found that ODO rated 238 of 241 inspections acceptable or above in fiscal years 2022-2024. During the same period, OIDO found noncompliance in 31 of 33 targeted inspections and OIG identified deficiencies in all 12 published reports. The programs use different scopes, but the contrast shows that a passing ODO grade is not a reliable safety proxy.

What the record establishes

  • The named inspection entities produced sharply different result distributions.
  • ODO grades and independent deficiency findings must be displayed as separate evidence lanes.
  • Inspection systems lacked outcome-oriented measures showing that inspections improved conditions.

What it does not establish

  • That ODO inspectors falsified reports.
  • That every passing facility was unsafe.
  • That OIDO and OIG inspect the same facilities, standards, or questions as ODO.

Expansion can outrun the controls required to operate safely

As of July 30, 2026 · supported conclusion

Opening a bed is not the same thing as operating a safe detention system.

Records behind this finding

Camp East Montana opened on an expedited schedule without the required pre-occupancy inspection and without several required security, accessibility, recreation, visitation, legal-resource, classification, and oversight controls. California also reported that a 162% population increase overwhelmed intake, medical, staffing, food, water, and basic-needs systems at facilities it inspected.

What the record establishes

  • At the reviewed sites, rapid population and capacity expansion preceded or accompanied unresolved operational-control gaps.
  • Pre-opening readiness and surge capacity are material safety variables.

What it does not establish

  • That every rapidly opened facility will fail.
  • That speed alone caused each later incident.
  • That the same contractor or acquisition model applies at all facilities.

Medical access is the recurring high-consequence failure surface

As of August 22, 2026 · cross source synthesis

The system’s most dangerous dependency is often the one a detained person cannot bypass.

Records behind this finding

Government audits, state inspections, and medical reviews repeatedly identify failures in screening, comprehensive assessment, medication continuity, referrals, chronic-disease management, emergency response, documentation, and grievance follow-up.

What the record establishes

  • Medical-control failures recur across different facility types, jurisdictions, and oversight records.
  • A facility dossier needs a separate medical-access and continuity lane.

What it does not establish

  • That every medical request was mishandled.
  • That every death was preventable or caused by detention.
  • That a contractor is responsible for a case without time-bounded role and case evidence.

Accountability weakens at custody handoffs

As of August 21, 2026 · supported inference

The record becomes weakest exactly where responsibility changes hands.

Records behind this finding

Transfers to hospitals, other facilities, release, and deportation can split medical records, complaint jurisdiction, custody status, and death reporting. ICE’s 2026 policy change ended required investigation and congressional reporting for deaths occurring within 30 days after release.

What the record establishes

  • The post-release reporting boundary became narrower.
  • Custody handoffs should be modeled as first-class evidence events.

What it does not establish

  • That release is used to hide every serious case.
  • That detention caused a particular post-release death.
  • That all handoffs result in lost records or interrupted care.

ICE often purchases capacity and fixed operating readiness, not only occupied bed-days

As of May 31, 2020 · observed audit finding

The public can pay for readiness even when the beds are not occupied.

Records behind this finding

GAO found that ICE spent $20.5 million in May 2020 for more than 12,000 unused beds per day on average. The finding is historical but demonstrates how guaranteed-minimum structures can shift occupancy risk to the public.

What the record establishes

  • Guaranteed-minimum payment structures existed and generated documented unused-capacity costs.
  • Facility economics require contract and invoice evidence rather than multiplying a bed-gap field by a guessed rate.

What it does not establish

  • A current national waste total.
  • That all current fixed operating payments are wasteful.
  • That the historical May 2020 rate can be applied to another facility or year.

The lived condition is enforced dependency on weak feedback systems

As of August 22, 2026 · explicit inference

When every basic need is mediated by the same failing institution, small defects become existential.

Records behind this finding

Across the reviewed records, detained people depend on facility-controlled processes for water, food, movement, sleep, medication, emergency care, legal calls, grievances, family contact, recreation, and transfer information. The recurring harm mechanism is not only confinement; it is the inability to route around a failing dependency.

What the record establishes

  • A source-bounded composite can explain recurring dependencies and failure modes.
  • The product should connect each stage to facility-specific evidence rather than present one universal floor plan.

What it does not establish

  • That every detained person experiences every listed condition.
  • That all facilities have the same architecture or schedule.
  • That any composite statement overrides a facility’s dated evidence.
04

What it can look like to be there

This sequence follows the dependencies a person encounters, not a universal floor plan. Each stage opens the records and facilities that support it.

  1. 01

    Arrival and intake

    Identity, property, classification, medical and mental-health screening, orientation, and housing assignment are supposed to occur through controlled intake processes. California investigators reported that some people waited days or weeks for classification and screening during the 2025 surge and some reported sleeping on floors without water or suitable clothing.

    source-attributed-pattern

    Records and boundary for “Arrival and intake”

    This is a pattern reported at several California facilities, not a universal statement about every intake.

  2. 02

    Housing

    Housing may be an open dormitory, a cellblock, a county jail unit, a repurposed prison, a tent, or a soft-sided temporary structure. Privacy and movement are limited, and access to meals, showers, recreation, calls, and medical care follows facility-controlled schedules.

    official-process-plus-general-description

    Records and boundary for “Housing”

    Do not use one image or diagram as a universal representation of ICE detention.

  3. 03

    Water, sanitation, and temperature

    At Torrance, OIG found plumbing problems in 83 of 157 reviewed occupied-area cells and documented people obtaining drinking water from a communal faucet intended for mop buckets. California reported empty coolers and murky tap water at Adelanto, along with cold, leaks, and improvised clothing at California City.

    observed-and-attributed

    Records and boundary for “Water, sanitation, and temperature”

    Keep observed OIG conditions separate from detained-person reports and from conditions at other facilities.

  4. 04

    Medical care

    A person generally has to submit a request or be identified by staff, then depend on triage, documentation, staffing, medication supply, transport, and outside referral. Reviewed records show failures at each step, including missing comprehensive assessments and treatment plans, delayed appointments, incomplete documentation, and unresolved medical recommendations.

    cross-source-synthesis

    Records and boundary for “Medical care”

    Do not imply that every request was delayed or that every medical outcome was caused by the facility.

  5. 05

    Isolation, discipline, and force

    At Imperial, OIG found people in administrative segregation for 22 to 23 hours per day, including two people isolated for more than 300 days. California also reported force concerns at some facilities. These are facility- and period-specific findings.

    observed-and-attributed

    Records and boundary for “Isolation, discipline, and force”

    Do not generalize Imperial’s historical segregation findings to all facilities or current operations.

  6. 06

    Communication and legal access

    Legal calls, private attorney meetings, family contact, interpretation, mail, and access to legal materials depend on facility infrastructure and schedules. Camp East Montana opened without its attorney-visitation, family-visitation, and law-library building available for at least two weeks, and Torrance still has an open OIG recommendation concerning legal-call access.

    observed-government-findings

    Records and boundary for “Communication and legal access”

    Infrastructure gaps and legal-access barriers do not by themselves establish the outcome of any immigration case.

  7. 07

    Transfer, hospitalization, release, or deportation

    A person may be moved among facilities, taken to an outside hospital, released while ill, or deported. Each transition can change custody status, medical continuity, complaint jurisdiction, family visibility, and reporting obligations.

    supported-inference

    Records and boundary for “Transfer, hospitalization, release, or deportation”

    A handoff is an investigative risk point, not proof that records were lost or care was interrupted in a particular case.

The recurring mechanism is not mysterious.

SUPPORTED SYSTEM MODEL

  1. 01Enforcement and population surge
  2. 02Compressed procurement or activation
  3. 03Facility opens before dependencies are ready
  4. 04Staffing, intake, medical, legal-access, and oversight debt

  5. Evidentiary break · what follows is more likely, not entailed

    05Incidents become more likely and harder to detect
  6. 06Corrective actions chase production failures

What this does not establish

This is a supported system model, not a claim that every incident followed this exact chain or that sequence proves causation.

05

Five facilities. Five different accountability failures.

Each autopsy asks one bounded question and exposes the records that answer it. No score, no ranking, no red gauge pretending uncertainty is a percentage.

Camp East Montana

El Paso, TX · active

Case question · What happens when expansion outruns readiness, experience, and contract oversight?

The record combines an expedited $1.3 billion acquisition, a missed pre-occupancy inspection, documented opening deficiencies, later medical and security failures, waste findings, an operator transition, and an ODO pass despite 49 standards violations.

Open the full facility dossier

7
Dated events
6
Findings
1
Unresolved conflicts
5
Open questions
Full case file — Camp East Montana

Dated record

  1. July 2025 · month precision

    Army awards detention-facility service contract

    The Army awarded a contract valued at up to $1.3 billion, with an initial requirement to reach 1,000 beds within 30 days.

    observed-government-record

  2. August 2025 · month precision

    Facility opens without required readiness controls

    ICE did not conduct the required pre-occupancy inspection. Required security, accessibility, recreation, legal-access, visitation, and classification controls were incomplete.

    observed-government-audit

  3. August 16, 2025

    First people arrive

    GAO’s reviewed population data identify August 16, 2025 as the first arrival date.

    observed-government-data

  4. December 3, 2025

    Tuberculosis-screening discrepancy

    ICE issued a discrepancy report after required testing procedures were not followed.

    observed-government-record

  5. January 26, 2026

    Loaded firearm reported missing

    ICE issued a discrepancy report after a contract guard lost a loaded firearm; GAO reported that it remained unrecovered as of March 2026.

    observed-government-record

  6. February 20, 2026

    Medical, transport, food, and death-reporting discrepancies

    ICE issued discrepancy reports addressing multiple contractual failures, including incomplete health assessments, transportation delays, food-service evidence, and missing use-of-force and death documentation.

    observed-government-record

  7. April 18, 2026

    Replacement contractor begins operation

    A different vendor began operating the facility after ICE awarded a new undefinitized contract and terminated the initial contract for convenience.

    observed-government-record

Findings

readiness

daily-life

medical

security

harm-and-accountability

inspection-integrity

Unresolved conflicts

  • Pass rating versus audited operational failure

    One record states
    ODO rated the facility Acceptable/Adequate.
    Another states
    GAO documented opening without required inspection and multiple serious operational failures.

    Unresolved calibration conflict. Display both records with dates and methods; do not select one as the sole truth.

People associated with this facility

Custodial records associate this person with this facility. This does not by itself establish that the facility or its operator caused or could have prevented the death.

The PHR/HRW figure is a fixed report cohort covering January 20, 2025 through June 4, 2026. It is not a live total and it is not updated here.

Open questions

  • Which deficiencies persisted after the April 18, 2026 operator transition?
  • Did the replacement contract include a complete Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan?
  • What corrective actions were independently verified, by whom, and on what dates?
  • What happened to missing or destroyed evidence associated with the January death?
  • What current medical, staffing, and legal-access performance data are available?

Records that would answer them

  • Replacement contract, modifications, and Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan
  • All discrepancy reports and closure evidence
  • Pre-occupancy waiver or decision record
  • Use-of-force packet and evidence inventory for the January 2026 death
  • Medical staffing, sick-call, chronic-care, and referral metrics after April 2026

All original-contractor findings are time-bounded. The packet creates no new death record and no contractor-causation edge.

Adelanto ICE Processing Center

Adelanto, CA · active

Case question · What does an inspection grade mean when independent investigators and a federal court identify serious problems?

Adelanto has a strong cross-source contradiction: a 2025 ODO Good rating with zero medical violations, California findings of inadequate staffing and medical care, four reported custody deaths in the following period, and a 2026 preliminary injunction requiring health and water protections.

Open the full facility dossier

4
Dated events
5
Findings
1
Unresolved conflicts
5
Open questions
Full case file — Adelanto ICE Processing Center

Dated record

  1. July 2025 · month precision

    California DOJ inspects during population surge

    California reported that Adelanto’s population rose from 7 in 2023 to 1,570 by early July 2025 while staffing failed to keep pace.

    state-government-finding

  2. September 2025 · month precision

    ODO inspection rates Adelanto Good

    POGO reports that ODO found zero medical violations and rated Adelanto Good shortly before a reported custody death.

    source-attributed-primary-analysis

  3. July 16, 2026

    New ODO inspection completed

    ICE published inspection 2026-001-159. Parse and display the exact rating and deficiencies separately from the 2025 inspection.

    government-inspection-record

  4. July 17, 2026

    Federal court grants preliminary relief

    A federal judge granted in part a preliminary injunction requiring immediate health and safety protections, including adequate medical care and clean drinking water.

    preliminary-court-order

Findings

capacity-and-staffing

medical

daily-life

inspection-integrity

legal

Unresolved conflicts

  • Good rating versus state and court findings

    One record states
    ODO reported a Good rating with zero medical violations in September 2025.
    Another states
    California reported inadequate staffing and medical access, and a federal court later ordered preliminary health and water protections.

    Display as a dated multi-source conflict. Inspection scope and timing differ; none should silently erase the others.

People associated with this facility

Custodial records associate this person with this facility. This does not by itself establish that the facility or its operator caused or could have prevented the death.

The PHR/HRW figure is a fixed report cohort covering January 20, 2025 through June 4, 2026. It is not a live total and it is not updated here.

Open questions

  • What exact deficiencies and rating appear in the July 2026 ODO report?
  • Which preliminary-injunction requirements have been implemented and independently verified?
  • What staffing ratios, wait times, referrals, and medication-continuity measures existed after the order?
  • How did ICE and GEO respond to each California finding?
  • What case-level evidence exists for each Adelanto-associated Human Cost record?

Records that would answer them

  • Court monitor reports and compliance filings
  • Water-quality tests and cooler-maintenance logs
  • Medical staffing rosters, vacancies, sick-call response times, and referral backlog
  • ODO worksheets, inspector notes, and notice dates for 2025 and 2026
  • Corrective-action plans and closure evidence

Do not create, duplicate, or strengthen a death-causation claim. Cross-link only to existing reviewed Human Cost records.

Torrance County Detention Facility

Estancia, NM · active-or-currently-used

Case question · What happens after an inspector general recommends immediate removal?

Torrance combines severe official findings, an immediate-removal recommendation, ICE disagreement, later corrective actions, a later branch inspection pass, and nine of fourteen OIG recommendations still open as of the packet retrieval date.

Open the full facility dossier

4
Dated events
5
Findings
1
Unresolved conflicts
5
Open questions
Full case file — Torrance County Detention Facility

Dated record

  1. February 2022 · month precision

    OIG conducts unannounced inspection

    OIG reviewed staffing, sanitation, supervision, medical care, classification, communications, segregation, and related standards.

    observed-government-inspection

  2. March 16, 2022

    OIG recommends immediate removal

    OIG recommended relocating all detained people and placing no one there until adequate staffing and living conditions were ensured. ICE did not concur.

    government-recommendation-and-agency-dispute

  3. September 30, 2022

    Final report issues fourteen recommendations

    The final OIG report documented additional medical, classification, communication, legal-access, and oversight deficiencies while noting compliance in grievances and the voluntary work program.

    observed-government-inspection

  4. August 22, 2026

    Nine recommendations remain open

    Oversight.gov listed nine of fourteen recommendations as open on the packet retrieval date.

    current-recommendation-status

Findings

staffing

daily-life

corrective-action

inspection-integrity

Unresolved conflicts

  • Immediate-removal recommendation versus continued use

    One record states
    OIG recommended immediate relocation and no further placement until conditions were corrected.
    Another states
    ICE disagreed, corrective actions followed, and the facility remained in the detention network.

    The product must show the recommendation, dispute, later rating, and open corrective actions as separate dated records.

People associated with this facility

No person in the reviewed Human Cost record is associated with this facility.

Open questions

  • What evidence supports the current branch Pass rating?
  • Which nine open recommendations have implementation work underway?
  • What current staffing, medical, plumbing, and legal-call metrics are available?
  • What contract penalties or billing reductions occurred after 2022?
  • Were corrective actions independently observed or accepted from documentary submissions?

Records that would answer them

  • Current staffing plans and monthly vacancy reports
  • All recommendation-closure submissions and OIG correspondence
  • Current plumbing work orders and water-quality tests
  • Medical wait-time and referral data
  • Contract discrepancy reports, penalties, invoices, and payment adjustments

A later pass does not prove every 2022 finding was corrected. An open recommendation does not prove the original condition persists unchanged.

Prairieland Detention Center

Alvarado, TX · active

Case question · Can a facility appear transformed for inspection while testimony and the final grade sharply conflict?

POGO documented detailed testimony about pre-inspection changes and conditions, similar attorney allegations, an operator denial, and an ODO Superior report stating no deficiencies and satisfaction among all 38 interviewed people.

Open the full facility dossier

3
Dated events
4
Findings
1
Unresolved conflicts
5
Open questions
Full case file — Prairieland Detention Center

Dated record

  1. December 2025 · month precision

    ODO inspection occurs

    A detained person told POGO that walls were painted, a water cooler appeared, and food changed before inspectors arrived.

    first-person-testimony

  2. January 2026 · month precision

    ODO publishes Superior result

    POGO reports that ODO listed no deficiencies and said all 38 interviewed people reported satisfaction.

    source-attributed-inspection-result

  3. August 18, 2026

    POGO publishes investigation

    The investigation presents detained-person and attorney allegations, the company spokesperson’s denial, and ODO’s perfect result.

    investigative-reporting

Findings

inspection-integrity

daily-life

  • Testimony alleged poor water, ignored medical complaints, religious-access failures, and unsanitary dormitories

    POGO reports Kordia’s account and says attorneys described similar allegations involving medical care, food, and religious accommodations.

    December 2025

    alleged-and-source-attributed

    What this does not establish

    That every allegation is substantiated or facility-wide.

response

Unresolved conflicts

  • Testimony, denial, and a perfect inspection

    One record states
    Detained-person and attorney accounts alleged serious recurring problems.
    Another states
    The company denied the allegations; ODO reported no deficiencies and complete interview satisfaction.

    Unresolved. The contradiction itself is the publishable finding. Do not invent a winner.

People associated with this facility

No person in the reviewed Human Cost record is associated with this facility.

Open questions

  • What was the exact inspection-notice timeline?
  • Who selected the 38 interviewees, and how were interviews conducted?
  • Do inspector notes or worksheets record Kordia’s complaints?
  • Were pre-inspection maintenance or food changes routine, scheduled, or inspection-driven?
  • What complaints, grievances, medical records, and corrective actions exist?

Records that would answer them

  • Exact ODO inspection PDF, worksheets, interview-selection method, notes, and notice communications
  • Maintenance and purchasing records for the month before inspection
  • Water tests and cooler-service records
  • Grievance logs and medical-request response metrics
  • Company investigation or response records concerning Kordia’s complaints

Do not strengthen allegations, infer inspection fraud, or use POGO’s company description to override the existing branch’s reviewed operator-role policy.

Imperial Regional Detention Facility

Calexico, CA · active-or-historical-ice-use

Case question · What does prolonged administrative segregation look like when medical and grievance controls are weak?

OIG documented 22-23 hour daily isolation, two people held more than 300 days, insufficient medical checks, poor conditions, defective grievance documentation, limited ICE communication, and six recommendations still open, while also finding general classification compliance.

Open the full facility dossier

2
Dated events
6
Findings
1
Unresolved conflicts
5
Open questions
Full case file — Imperial Regional Detention Facility

Dated record

  1. January 21, 2020

    OIG publishes segregation and conditions report

    OIG issued six recommendations after finding noncompliance in segregation, facility conditions, medical grievances, and detainee communication.

    observed-government-inspection

  2. August 22, 2026

    All six recommendations remain listed open

    Oversight.gov listed all six recommendations as open on the retrieval date.

    current-recommendation-status

Findings

isolation

medical

feedback

communication

inspection-integrity

corrective-action

Unresolved conflicts

  • A mixed inspection record

    One record states
    OIG found general classification compliance.
    Another states
    OIG found serious segregation, medical-check, condition, grievance, and communication failures.

    Render both. A facility can comply in one lane and fail in another.

People associated with this facility

Custodial records associate this person with this facility. This does not by itself establish that the facility or its operator caused or could have prevented the death.

The PHR/HRW figure is a fixed report cohort covering January 20, 2025 through June 4, 2026. It is not a live total and it is not updated here.

Open questions

  • Why do all six recommendations remain open more than six years later?
  • What current segregation durations and medical-round compliance rates exist?
  • What corrective actions has ICE accepted or rejected?
  • What current facility-use and operator timeline is supported?
  • What facility-specific evidence supports any associated Human Cost record?

Records that would answer them

  • Current segregation logs and duration distributions
  • Medical-round logs and grievance-response records
  • Recommendation closure submissions and OIG correspondence
  • Current inspection reports and standards set
  • ICE ERO visit schedules and detained-person access logs

Historical findings remain dated. An open recommendation is an oversight status, not proof of identical current conditions.

06

The record gets weaker when custody changes hands.

Facility → hospital. Facility → transfer. Custody → release. Custody → deportation. Each boundary can split medical continuity, complaint jurisdiction, family visibility, and reporting.

Custody handoffs and the evidence each one puts at risk of loss.
HandoffEvidence at risk of loss
Facility → hospitalmedical-record continuity · custody status · family notification
Facility → facilitymedication continuity · legal access · complaint ownership
Custody → releasepost-release mortality reporting · care continuity · investigation jurisdiction
Custody → deportationrecords access · follow-up care · complaint completion

ICE ended the prior requirement to investigate and report deaths occurring within 30 days after release.

What this does not establish

A handoff creates an evidence risk. It does not establish that records or care failed in every case.

The missing records are not abstract.

The next layer is operational evidence: staffing rosters, sick-call timing, work orders, inspection worksheets, corrective-action closure, hospital transport logs, use-of-force packets, and contract-performance records.

  1. Priority 1 · ICE Office of Detention Oversight

    Inspection worksheets, scoring rubrics, notice communications, inspector notes, interview-selection methods, deficiency calculations, drafts, and final reports for the five autopsy facilities.

    Discriminates between a narrow inspection sample, a staged inspection, a scoring-calibration problem, and documented conditions outside the final grade.

    Facilities · Camp East Montana, Adelanto ICE Processing Center, Torrance County Detention Facility, Prairieland Detention Facility, Imperial Regional Detention Facility

  2. Priority 2 · ICE, DHS OIG, facility contracting offices

    Corrective-action plans, contractor responses, closure submissions, verification records, waivers, extensions, and recommendation-status correspondence.

    Determines whether an issue was fixed, administratively closed, disputed, waived, or still unresolved.

    Facilities · Camp East Montana, Adelanto ICE Processing Center, Torrance County Detention Facility, Imperial Regional Detention Facility

  3. Priority 3 · ICE Health Service Corps and facility medical providers

    De-identified intake-screening completion, comprehensive-assessment completion, sick-call response times, medication continuity, chronic-care plans, outside referrals, emergency transports, mortality review, and vacancy metrics.

    Tests the operational pathway from request to clinical outcome without exposing private medical information.

    Facilities · All five autopsy facilities

  4. Priority 4 · ICE contracting offices and facility operators

    Required staffing plans, filled positions by role and shift, vacancies, overtime, temporary staffing, turnover, and contract deductions.

    Distinguishes nominal capacity from operable capacity and tests whether staffing kept pace with population.

    Facilities · Camp East Montana, Adelanto ICE Processing Center, Torrance County Detention Facility

  5. Priority 5 · Facilities, counties, state regulators, ICE

    Water-quality tests, cooler service logs, plumbing and HVAC work orders, sanitation inspections, temperature logs, preventive-maintenance schedules, and closure evidence.

    Separates visible or reported conditions from laboratory results and repair history.

    Facilities · Adelanto ICE Processing Center, Torrance County Detention Facility, Prairieland Detention Facility

  6. Priority 6 · ICE, Army, contractor, coroner, law enforcement

    Use-of-force packets, witness memoranda, video-retention logs, evidence inventories, autopsy and investigative records, after-action reviews, and chain-of-custody documentation for the January 2026 Camp East Montana death.

    Tests the documented reporting and evidence gaps without presuming individual or criminal responsibility.

    Facilities · Camp East Montana

  7. Priority 7 · ICE ERO and facility administrators

    Attorney-call availability, private-visit capacity, law-library outages, interpretation services, legal-mail delays, hearing-transport failures, and complaint records.

    Measures practical access rather than merely the existence of a policy.

    Facilities · Camp East Montana, Torrance County Detention Facility, Adelanto ICE Processing Center

  8. Priority 8 · ICE and Imperial facility administration

    Current segregation census, placement reasons, durations, reviews, outdoor-recreation access, medical rounds, mental-health contacts, and alternatives considered.

    Determines whether the historical prolonged-isolation pattern persists or was corrected.

    Facilities · Imperial Regional Detention Facility

  9. Priority 9 · ICE, hospitals, facility providers

    Transfer summaries, medication reconciliation, hospital transport and discharge records, release medical plans, death reviews, and post-release mortality reports under the prior policy.

    Tests whether the observability cliff produced actual continuity or reporting failures.

    Facilities · National / case-specific

07

Facts, findings, testimony, disputes, and inference stay separate.

Method, cutoffs and the complete source docket behind every element on this page.

  • Observed: direct record, inspection, contract, court order, or data.
  • Attributed: testimony, allegation, company response, or investigator assessment.
  • Inference: synthesis of separately established records.
  • Unknown: the reviewed record does not answer the question.
  • Boundary: what a record does not establish.

Packet · research/inside-detention/14-2026-08-22 · reviewed records as of 2026-08-22

Report a correction

Source docket — every record behind this page

  1. [1]

    Immigration Detention Quick Facts

    Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse · published 2026-07-11 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Quick Facts values current as of July 11, 2026; lines 12-27 and 56-67 in reviewed web capture · read status · full-page-reviewed

    Snapshot values change as TRAC updates the page. Preserve the as-of date with every displayed figure.

    Open source

  2. [2]

    Ten Things Vera’s ICE Detention Trends Dashboard Reveals About ICE Detention Through March 2026

    Vera Institute of Justice · published 2026-04-01 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Findings 2-4; reviewed web capture lines 101-105 · read status · full-page-reviewed

    The 456 figure excludes medical facilities. The 220 figure is ICE’s acknowledged website inventory at the cited time. These are different denominators, not competing counts of the same thing.

    Open source

  3. [3]

    Immigration Detention: DHS Should Define Goals and Measures to Assess Facility Inspection Programs

    U.S. Government Accountability Office · GAO-25-107580 · published 2025-06-12 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Fast Facts and What GAO Found; reviewed capture lines 20-28 · read status · full-report-index-reviewed

    ODO, IHSC, OIDO, and OIG use different scopes and methods. Their findings must not be merged into one pass/fail denominator.

    Open source

  4. [4]

    Immigration Detention: Waste and Performance Issues at Camp East Montana Provide Valuable Lessons for Future Facilities

    U.S. Government Accountability Office · GAO-26-108886 · published 2026-07-30 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Acquisition and operational findings, especially sections beginning at paragraphs represented by reviewed capture lines 117-223 · read status · full-report-reviewed

    The original prime contract was terminated for convenience and a different vendor began operating the facility in April 2026. Do not project original-contractor findings onto the replacement contractor without new evidence.

    Already reviewed on this site as src-gao-26-108886-full

    Open source

  5. [5]

    Fifth Report on Immigration Detention Facilities in California

    California Department of Justice · published 2026-06-04 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Press release findings; reviewed capture lines 169-184 · read status · report-summary-reviewed

    Findings concern seven active California facilities visited in 2025 and vary by facility. Do not convert statewide patterns into findings at an unmentioned facility.

    Open source

  6. [6]

    Dying in Detention

    Physicians for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch · published 2026-06-25 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Methodology and cohort definition; reviewed capture lines 16-23 · read status · report-page-reviewed

    The 52-person total is a fixed report cohort from January 20, 2025 through June 4, 2026, not a live total. Case-level causation and preventability vary and must remain source-specific.

    Already reviewed on this site as src-phr-2026

    Open source

  7. [7]

    ICE will no longer report deaths of detainees who have recently been released from custody

    Associated Press · published 2026-08-21 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Reviewed capture lines 1807-1816 · read status · full-article-reviewed

    Use as attributed reporting of a confirmed policy change. Do not infer that any specific post-release death was caused by detention without case evidence.

    Open source

  8. [8]

    Immigration Detention: Actions Needed to Improve Planning, Documentation, and Oversight of Detention Facility Contracts

    U.S. Government Accountability Office · GAO-21-149 · published 2021-01-13 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Fast Facts and findings; reviewed capture lines 8-38 · read status · full-report-index-reviewed

    Historical FY2017-2020 findings. Do not project the May 2020 dollar figure onto current contracts or facilities.

    Already reviewed on this site as src-gao-21-149

    Open source

  9. [9]

    Management Alert – Immediate Removal of All Detainees from the Torrance County Detention Facility

    Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General · OIG-22-31 · published 2022-03-16 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Pages 3-11; staffing and occupied-cell inspection findings · read status · full-pdf-reviewed

    Historical February 2022 inspection. ICE disputed the alert and did not concur with relocation. Current conditions require current evidence.

    Already reviewed on this site as src-oig-22-31-torrance

    Open source

  10. [10]

    Violations of ICE Detention Standards at Torrance County Detention Facility

    Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General · OIG-22-75 · published 2022-09-30 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Oversight.gov report page and linked report · read status · report-and-recommendation-status-reviewed

    Recommendation status is time-sensitive. Display the retrieval date with open-recommendation counts.

    Already reviewed on this site as src-oversight-oig-22-75-status

    Open source

  11. [11]

    ICE Needs to Address Prolonged Administrative Segregation and Other Violations at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility

    Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General · OIG-21-12 · published 2020-01-21 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Report description and recommendation table; reviewed capture lines 35-63 · read status · report-page-reviewed

    Historical findings from a 2020 inspection. The report also found general compliance in classification; retain that positive finding.

    Already reviewed on this site as src-oig-21-12-imperial

    Open source

  12. [12]

    Inside ICE’s Broken System for Inspecting Detention Facilities

    Project On Government Oversight · published 2026-08-18 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Prairieland account and FY2022-July 23, 2026 ODO dataset methodology · read status · full-article-reviewed

    Prairieland conditions are testimony and attorney accounts disputed by the operator. The contradiction with the ODO report is publishable; the packet does not resolve every disputed factual claim.

    Open source

  13. [13]

    Federal Judge Orders Immediate Health and Safety Protections for People Detained at Adelanto ICE Facility

    Public Counsel · published 2026-07-17 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Reviewed capture lines 257-268 and linked order · read status · party-summary-reviewed

    The order is preliminary, not a final merits judgment. Prefer the linked court order for exact holdings when implementing detailed legal prose.

    Open source

  14. [14]

    National Detention Standards 2026

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement · published 2026-06-01 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Entire standards manual; exact section locators required for any standards comparison · read status · index-and-overview-reviewed

    Facilities may be inspected under different standards sets. Do not assume the 2026 standards govern every facility.

    Open source

  15. [15]

    Adelanto ICE Processing Center Inspection 2026-001-159

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Detention Oversight · published 2026-07-16 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Full ODO report · read status · indexed-report

    Render the exact rating and deficiencies only after parsing the report. Never treat an ODO grade as a safety score.

    Open source

  16. [16]

    Prairieland Detention Facility Inspection, Alvarado, Texas, December 16–18, 2025

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Detention Oversight · published 2025-12-18 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Full ODO report; direct URL identified from POGO’s source link · read status · primary-url-resolved; report facts cross-checked through POGO

    The report is an official inspection record. POGO provides the reviewed rating, deficiency, and interview summary used in this packet; parse the primary PDF before changing that wording.

    Open source

  17. [17]

    National Detainee Handbook

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement · published 2025-01-01 · retrieved 2026-08-22

    Locator · Current handbook landing page and linked editions · read status · landing-page-reviewed

    The handbook describes official processes, not proof that every facility follows them.

    Open source