U.S. immigration authorities are detaining approximately 73,000 people, the highest figure in history, according to data leaked this Friday to the CBS News network. The figures reveal an 84% increase in detentions compared to the same period last year, before President Donald Trump took office, with a series of anti-immigration policies focused on detaining and deporting as many individuals as possible. According to the data leaked to the portal, less than half (47%) of those detained have a criminal record in the U.S. The Republican administration has insisted in recent months that its plan is to increase detention capacity—by opening more centers or expanding existing ones—to an average of 100,000 people daily. Last year, with the approval of the budget dubbed by Trump as the 'Great and Beautiful Bill,' the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) received a multi-year funding package of nearly $191 billion, the largest amount the agency has received since its founding in 2002. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) received a massive funding increase in 2025 through the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' (OBBBA), which totaled around $178 billion in a single supplemental package, the largest in history, with a strong focus on border security, immigration law enforcement (ICE, CBP), detention, and new barriers, following years of significant budget increases in these areas. Conditions in migrant detention centers have been labeled 'inhumane' by human rights organizations, including ACLU and Amnesty International, which have revealed physical and psychological abuse towards detainees, as well as overcrowding. Indeed, 2025 was the deadliest year in at least two decades for people in ICE custody, with over 30 individuals dying within these centers. In the first 10 days of 2026, at least four migrants have died under the custody of U.S. immigration authorities, all in facilities used by ICE, including a center at the Fort Bliss military base in Texas.
