Immigration Detention in New England

The civil immigration detention system in the US is the largest detention system in the world. ICE incarcerates individuals as they await their immigration court hearings or deportation in a network of more than 200 jails and detention centers across the country. As of February 2026, there were 68,289 people in immigration detention - an increase of 66% compared to a year prior and nearly 5 times the number of individuals in detention in February 2021.¹ Many individuals who have not historically been detained while pursuing legal immigration pathways - such as asylum seekers - are increasingly facing the prospect of detention.

​

The increase in detention reflects the surge in immigration enforcement fueled by $45 billion appropriated for detention in July 2025 - more than ten-fold normal yearly funding.²

In New England, detention capacity has grown steadily, with an average daily detention population of nearly 1,000 people across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.³

​

Countless reports have documented the poor conditions of detention centers and jails throughout the country. In 2025 alone there were 31 deaths in detention, and 6 people have died so far in 2026.⁴

​

An increasing number of people who are not detained are subject to various supervision programs. Nearly 180,000 people are currently subject to ICE check-ins, GPS monitoring, or other forms of surveillance. As of early February 2026 there were 8,111 individuals in supervision programs in New England.⁵

Photograph of a cell at Strafford County Corrections in New Hampshire, published in the Concord Monitor 2/24/2025

Burlington ICE Office

​

In early 2025, advocates became aware that the local office of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations located in Burlington, MA was being used to detain individuals for days and sometimes weeks at a time.⁶ The facility was opened in 2008 as the base for immigration enforcement operations in New England, but was not meant to function as a detention center.

​

Despite repeated assurances from ICE that the office would not hold people overnight, immigrants are regularly being detained in small crowded cells with no beds without access to basic hygiene, outdoor time, or visitors.

March 2026

1 https://tracreports.org/immigration/detentionstats/pop_agen_table.html

2 https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/immigration-detention-report.pdf

3 https://tracreports.org/immigration/detentionstats/facilities.html

4 https://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/issues/detention-101

5 https://tracreports.org/immigration/detentionstats/atd_pop_table.html To learn more about “alternatives to detention” see https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/alternatives-immigration-detention-overview/

6 https://indivisible-ma.org/bearing-witness-at-ice/

7 As of February 6, 2026, https://tracreports.org/immigration/detentionstats/facilities.html

Interested in learning more?

• Detention Watch Network: national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States. They create and maintain many resources on immigration detention.
• Prisoner Legal Services of MA: nonprofit that provides civil legal assistance to individuals incarcerated in Massachusetts, including those in immigration detention.
• Bearing Witness New England: organizes weekly vigils outside of the Burlington ICE office.
• Boston Immigrant Justice Accompaniment Network: provides accompaniment to those interacting with immigration systems and organizes and provides opportunities to take action to support systemic change.