Up to seven days in an ICE hold room: The new normal for detained migrants in the Trump era

In the past, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies stipulated that arrested immigrants could be detained in hold rooms for up to 12 hours while awaiting transfer to detention centers or deportation; but with Trump’s return to power, the federal agency overturned the old rule, and is now holding foreigners in these rooms for up to seven days, often in overcrowded conditions.

A CNN analysis indicates that the average stay of detainees in hold rooms is two to three days, but some have been held for a week or more. Figures from the Deportation Data Project show that 18% of detainees placed into ICE hold rooms were kept there longer than 12 hours, up from only about 4% in 2024. Orders limiting releases are listed as one of the main causes of the increase.

Two months ago, when complaints of violations of the 12-hour policy began to multiply, ICE modified the rule to keep immigrants in holding rooms for up to three days, justified under “exceptional circumstances.” Most of these rooms — about 160 nationwide — are located in the federal agency’s offices, while a few are part of larger detention centers. The new rule has also not been enforced.

The situation at the Krome Processing Center in Florida is particularly extreme. More than 600 people were simultaneously held in its holding rooms in mid-February. Sixty-two percent of those transferred there exceeded the 12-hour maximum, a situation aggravated by the fact that the facility lacks beds, showers, and other infrastructure for long stays. There, as in other centers, ICE’s measures ultimately amounted to torture and a threat to the health of the detainees, most of whom have no criminal records.

At the end of March, a leaked video recorded by a Mexican immigrant held at Krome highlighted the irregularities occurring there. “We’re practically kidnapped. There are people who have been held for more than 30 days and have not been processed,” he denounced. An internal ICE audit revealed that detainees were being held in these spaces for too long, without pillows or blankets, sufficient food, or timely medical attention.

‘They treat us like dogs’

The hold room at the ICE office in New York City held 191 people in early July, and the average stay is 32 hours. The foreigners were isolated, sleeping on the floor or on a chair, with a toilet in plain view, unable to shower, and putting up with an unbearable stench. Many became ill. “They treat us like dogs,” one Venezuelan immigrant complained in a video that went viral on social media.

Following a lawsuit filed by immigrant rights activists alleging that people were being detained in “overcrowded, squalid, and punitive” conditions, a federal judge ordered ICE last month to improve conditions in Manhattan detention facilities, reducing the number of detainees and ensuring they had sleeping mats and access to their attorneys.

In the hold rooms of an ICE office in Baltimore, 92% of detentions have lasted more than 12 hours, and the average stay is 53 hours. These complaints prompted a swift response from ICE, which in a statement denied that the hold rooms failed to meet its detention standards. “All detainees receive adequate food, medical treatment, showers, blankets, and have the opportunity to communicate with their families and attorneys [...] Most of our facilities have higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons, which house American citizens. Ensuring the safety and well-being of those in our custody is a top priority,” the document states.

Dora B. Schriro, former director of ICE’s Office of Detention Policy and Planning during the Obama administration, told CNN that the 12-hour rule provided important protection for detainees in the past. It’s very likely that there will be an increase in deaths in detention and serious medical conditions, she said. Immigrant advocacy organizations, for their part, believe the hostile conditions at ICE facilities are a strategy: to keep detainees from resisting deportation.

What’s even more concerning is that these harsh conditions are claiming the lives of dozens of foreigners in custody. In the nine months of Donald Trump’s second term, 14 people have died in ICE detention centers.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition