An analysis of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data published by The Guardian revealed that its officers have been increasingly detaining people in its processing centers for days or even weeks, in violation of the federal rule that governs the agency.

Those processing centers, located in ICE offices in federal buildings and elsewhere in the country, are generally used to detain people after having been arrested, but before being transferred to detention centers or released.

ICE was prohibited from detaining people for more than 12 hours in these processing centers, which are typically enclosed spaces with no facilities for holding detainees.

However, the agency recently waived the 12-hour detention limit, allowing people to be held in processing centers for up to three days, according to a memo dated June 24.

The Guardian analyzed data on intakes at ICE processing centers, initially published by the Deportation Data Project, covering a period from September 2023 to the end of July of this year, the most recent month for which data is available.

The Guardian's analysis revealed that:

Activists and former ICE officials warn that prolonged use of these processing centers exposes people to unsafe conditions and increases the risk of abuse and medical neglect, and violates due process guarantees.

The facilities are secretive and have minimal oversight, and detainees have very little contact with them. families or lawyers.

The Guardian says it asked ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment on this information but they did not respond in time for publication.

Detained far longer than ICE's own rules allow

The Guardian's data analysis shows that, at major ICE processing centers,They were already detaining people for several days at a time even before the memorandum was signed.

Human rights advocates say ICE's policy change in June was made to alter the legal rules and mitigate the potential consequences of the national overcrowding crisis at these facilities,where ICE has detained hundreds of thousands of people.

The text of the ICE memorandum supports this claim, stating that the rule was changed to, among other reasons, “avoid violations of the standards and requirements of detention centers.”

But court records, interviews, and arrest data show that ICE has been detaining people for longer than the three-day limit, in violation of its new policy on detention times at processing centers.

There is no oversight of the conditions at these processing centers.

ICE processing centers and their detention facilities have come under increased scrutiny this year, as the Trump administration aggressively intensifies immigration enforcement operations.

While larger immigrant detention centers are subject to oversight mechanisms, temporary processing centers are not, as they are meant to be used only for a limited time.

Attorneys do not have access to these centers; ICE detention standards do not apply in them; it is unknown whether homeland security watchdog agencies, such as the office of the inspector general, conduct on-site audits; and some members of Congress, who have attempted to enter the facilities to conduct congressionally mandated inspections, have been prevented from doing so because ICE claims they are not traditional detention centers.

Recent court documents filed by the Trump administration claim that, due to the government shutdown, a certain oversight rule has been suspended, preventing members of Congress from inspecting ICE processing centers and detention centers in general.