Pressroom

Our latest press releases on important news and events relating to immigration detention in the United States

For media inquiries contact: media@detentionwatchnetwork.org

MAGA megabill skyrockets ICE’s budget to become largest US law enforcement agency

July 1, 2025

Washington, DC — The Senate passed the Trump and MAGA-backed megabill that will substantially increase Trump’s cruel mass detention and deportation agenda and make Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the largest interior law enforcement agency in the US. The bill provides a shocking $150 billion for immigration enforcement – the targeting, detention, and deportation of people – including $45 billion for ICE to detain families and adults over the next four years at the expense of vital programs for all Americans.

Immigrant Detention Center in Florida Everglades is Trump’s Latest Acceleration in Anti-Immigrant Cruelty

June 26, 2025

Ochopee, Florida—Communities Indigenous to Florida, such as the Miccosukee Tribe, with the support of the Florida Detention Coalition, are resisting the opening of an immigrant detention center at the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport in Florida. The facility, which Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier calls “Alligator Alcatraz,” would cost the state $450 million to operate and is planned to open next month.

Detention Watch Network rings the alarm: The number of people in ICE detention at a record high

June 24, 2025

Washington, DC — More than 56,000 people are now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) custody, the highest number in history. This alarming spike - a 12 percent increase in just two weeks and 40 percent in just five months - comes amid Trump’s increasingly authoritarian escalation to carry out his multi-layered, mass detention and deportation agenda.

As communities mobilize against increasing ICE abuses, members of Congress must fulfill their responsibility to conduct oversight of immigration detention

June 24, 2025

Washington, DC — The American Civil Liberties Union, Detention Watch Network, and the National Immigrant Justice Center today released a new guide for members of Congress to conduct vital in-person oversight visits of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities in their districts and states.

Third Death By Suicide In Georgia's ICE Detention Center, Advocates Call For Immediate Action to Close Stewart Detention Center

June 12, 2025

Lumpkin, Georgia — Amid increasing reports of overcrowding and the denial of human rights at the Stewart Detention Center, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has confirmed the death by suicide of Jesus Molina-Veya on Saturday, June 7, 2025. Mr. Molina-Veya’s tragic loss marks the thirteenth death in custody and the third confirmed death by suicide at Stewart Detention Center since ICE began detaining immigrants there in 2006.

Detention Watch Network rings the alarm: 25 percent increase in the number of people in ICE detention in just five months

June 11, 2025

Washington, DC — 50,000 people are now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) custody, according to the agency’s most recent reporting. This alarming spike - a 25 percent increase in just four months - comes amid Trump’s increasingly authoritarian escalation to carry out his multi-layered, mass detention and deportation agenda.

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