Capacity expanded rapidly in a single year
From April 2025 to April 2026, Immigration and Customs Enforcement added more than 40 facilities that hold people longer than 72 hours, according to the Government Accountability Office. The average daily detained population grew by more than 50% to 61,817.
A 50% increase implies the earlier daily population was below about 41,211; because GAO says ‘over’ 50%, that calculation is only an upper-bound scale estimate, not a reconstructed exact baseline. The report’s definitive figures are the final population and the stated growth threshold.
| Measure | GAO finding |
|---|---|
| New over-72-hour facilities | More than 40 |
| Average daily population, April 2026 | 61,817 |
| Population growth | More than 50% |
| DHS inspection entities that changed or stopped frequency | 3 of 4 |
| GAO recommendations | 2, both open |
Inspection capacity did not simply scale with detention
Between fiscal 2024 and July 2026, three of the four DHS entities conducting inspections changed inspection frequency—some increasing, some decreasing—or stopped conducting inspections. GAO also found more reliance on facility self-inspections and changed inspection processes.
Those facts do not prove every facility was inspected less often. They establish that the oversight system changed during rapid expansion and that ICE had not used deficiency, contract-compliance and performance data to determine the collective effect on facility conditions.
DHS agreed to an evidence test that remains open
GAO recommended that ICE use evidence to determine whether the changed inspection system is collectively sufficient to find deficiencies, then modify its inspections based on the results. DHS concurred with both recommendations.
Concurrence is not implementation. Both recommendations remained open when this analysis was prepared. Public follow-through should show inspection frequency by facility, deficiencies found by independent versus self-inspection, correction timeliness and contract consequences.
Method, contribution and limits
What’s the Scoop With Broach reconstructed the oversight timeline from GAO’s facility, population and inspection findings and calculated only a labeled upper-bound estimate for the earlier population. The original contribution is the synchronized expansion-versus-assurance comparison.
GAO reviewed oversight mechanisms, data and officials; it did not inspect every facility in this report or conclude that every detainee experienced deficient care. The analysis addresses whether ICE measured the effect of its inspection changes, not the legality of individual detentions.
Sources and further reading
GAO-27-109299, Immigration Detention, November 5, 2026 ↗
Karnes County ICE detention facility photograph and public-domain record ↗