Trump Vs Biden: ICE Detentions By Administration (2019-2025)
Since January 2023, the number of people held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention has more than doubled.
This increase has accelerated notably during the early months of Donald Trump’s second term, compared to the final stretch of Joe Biden’s presidency.
As Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti shows in the chart below, the data behind this trend offers a revealing look at how immigration enforcement priorities and political leadership can rapidly reshape the size and scope of ICE’s detainee population.
The figures for this analysis come from TRAC Reports, a long-running research project tracking U.S. immigration enforcement metrics. The data reflects weekly totals of ICE detainees, categorized by criminal background or immigration status.
ICE Detentions Have Surged in 2025On January 1, 2023, there were just over 20,500 people in ICE custody. By June 15, 2025, that number had jumped to over 56,000—a 175% increase. This steep rise coincides with Trump’s return to office and his campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration.
Date Convicted Criminal Pending Criminal Charges Other Violations Total 06/15/2025 15,964 14,263 26,170 56,397 06/01/2025 15,193 13,671 22,438 51,302 05/18/2025 14,909 12,920 21,041 48,870 05/04/2025 15,025 12,730 21,250 49,005 04/20/2025 15,190 11,997 21,997 49,184 04/06/2025 14,614 11,065 22,249 47,928 03/23/2025 14,369 10,509 23,014 47,892 03/09/2025 13,751 9,437 23,081 46,269 02/23/2025 12,804 8,158 22,797 43,759 02/09/2025 11,917 6,714 22,538 41,169 01/26/2025 10,703 5,429 23,106 39,238 01/12/2025 10,494 5,360 23,849 39,703 12/29/2024 10,278 5,271 23,603 39,152 12/15/2024 10,355 5,204 22,847 38,406 12/01/2024 10,283 5,084 23,361 38,728 11/03/2024 10,308 4,967 23,588 38,863 09/08/2024 10,050 4,874 22,471 37,395 08/25/2024 10,078 4,818 21,327 36,223 08/11/2024 10,142 4,752 21,432 36,326 07/14/2024 10,380 4,605 22,019 37,004 06/30/2024 10,053 4,459 22,997 37,509 06/16/2024 10,158 4,452 23,915 38,525 06/02/2024 9,803 4,311 23,246 37,360 05/19/2024 9,748 4,303 22,520 36,571 05/05/2024 9,882 4,146 22,575 36,603 04/21/2024 9,560 3,961 20,852 34,373 04/07/2024 9,549 3,830 21,201 34,580 03/24/2024 9,465 3,721 23,745 36,931 03/10/2024 9,285 3,646 26,180 39,111 02/25/2024 9,288 3,548 26,339 39,175 02/11/2024 9,319 3,468 25,471 38,258 01/28/2024 9,114 3,412 25,972 38,498 01/13/2024 9,005 3,355 25,422 37,782 12/31/2023 9,003 3,332 24,796 37,131 12/17/2023 8,936 3,115 24,212 36,263 12/03/2023 8,838 3,074 24,843 36,755 11/19/2023 8,682 2,979 27,352 39,013 11/05/2023 8,426 3,008 28,314 39,748 10/03/2023 8,198 3,013 25,634 36,845 09/24/2023 8,074 2,966 24,249 35,289 09/10/2023 8,012 2,942 24,635 35,589 08/27/2023 8,105 2,994 21,644 32,743 08/13/2023 8,238 3,121 18,825 30,184 07/30/2023 8,422 3,325 18,691 30,438 07/16/2023 8,504 3,230 19,330 31,064 07/02/2023 8,032 3,022 18,949 30,003 06/18/2023 8,014 2,913 18,686 29,613 06/04/2023 7,839 2,751 19,324 29,914 05/21/2023 7,932 2,693 16,705 27,330 05/07/2023 7,840 2,509 10,944 21,293 04/23/2023 8,123 2,667 14,154 24,944 04/09/2023 8,289 2,580 14,884 25,753 03/26/2023 8,050 2,563 16,285 26,898 03/12/2023 7,952 2,579 17,192 27,723 02/26/2023 7,656 2,515 16,839 27,010 02/12/2023 7,281 2,434 16,695 26,410 01/29/2023 7,147 2,291 14,732 24,170 01/15/2023 7,010 2,172 11,710 20,892 01/01/2023 7,030 2,259 11,217 20,506 12/18/2022 7,041 2,301 13,718 23,060 12/04/2022 6,966 2,413 19,647 29,026 11/20/2022 6,886 2,385 20,730 30,001 10/31/2022 6,813 2,395 20,776 29,984 09/25/2022 6,430 2,040 16,664 25,134 09/10/2022 6,152 1,991 17,633 25,776 08/15/2022 5,903 1,778 16,446 24,127 07/31/2022 5,615 1,606 16,169 23,390 07/17/2022 5,550 1,538 15,798 22,886 07/05/2022 5,434 1,402 16,320 23,156 06/19/2022 5,505 1,343 16,542 23,390 06/05/2022 5,353 1,327 17,911 24,591 05/07/2022 5,021 1,226 16,034 22,281 04/24/2022 4,880 1,177 13,445 19,502 04/11/2022 4,629 1,082 13,135 18,846 03/27/2022 4,621 1,079 15,033 20,733 03/13/2022 4,692 1,049 14,405 20,146 02/27/2022 4,666 982 12,336 17,984 02/13/2022 4,727 999 14,222 19,948 01/16/2022 4,534 850 15,502 20,886 01/02/2022 4,471 860 16,737 22,068 12/19/2021 4,436 795 15,392 20,623 12/05/2021 4,559 931 16,462 21,952 11/21/2021 4,466 852 17,120 22,438 10/01/2021 4,537 852 16,740 22,129 09/16/2021 4,553 771 16,242 21,566 09/13/2021 4,443 808 17,763 23,014 08/24/2021 4,495 835 19,832 25,162 08/06/2021 4,502 971 20,053 25,526 07/22/2021 4,439 1,078 21,254 26,771 07/08/2021 4,433 1,117 21,667 27,217 06/24/2021 4,399 1,100 20,723 26,222 06/11/2021 4,338 1,037 19,088 24,463 05/28/2021 4,382 971 16,166 21,519 05/13/2021 4,490 686 13,865 19,041 05/03/2021 4,524 696 10,477 15,697 04/14/2021 4,765 826 9,545 15,136 03/31/2021 5,177 919 7,818 13,914 03/17/2021 5,857 1,252 6,943 14,052 02/25/2021 6,746 1,890 4,622 13,258 02/11/2021 7,362 2,306 4,427 14,095 01/22/2021 7,598 2,544 4,053 14,195 01/07/2021 8,189 2,864 4,391 15,444 12/30/2020 8,272 2,810 4,268 15,350 12/10/2020 8,448 2,948 4,376 15,772 11/26/2020 8,632 2,966 4,477 16,075 11/14/2020 8,931 2,974 4,729 16,634 09/18/2020 10,773 3,351 5,894 20,018 09/04/2020 11,149 3,236 6,104 20,489 08/21/2020 11,372 3,187 6,448 21,007 08/08/2020 11,321 3,113 6,684 21,118 08/01/2020 11,450 3,082 7,014 21,546 07/25/2020 11,510 3,114 7,260 21,884 07/18/2020 11,391 3,085 7,666 22,142 07/11/2020 11,492 3,071 7,777 22,340 07/04/2020 11,592 3,031 7,956 22,579 06/27/2020 11,632 3,096 8,077 22,805 06/20/2020 11,777 3,160 8,492 23,429 06/13/2020 11,986 3,244 8,811 24,041 06/06/2020 12,130 3,306 9,277 24,713 05/30/2020 12,279 3,373 9,769 25,421 05/23/2020 12,435 3,408 10,068 25,911 05/16/2020 12,599 3,454 10,607 26,660 05/09/2020 13,068 3,639 11,201 27,908 05/02/2020 13,183 3,779 11,903 28,865 04/25/2020 13,218 3,897 12,560 29,675 04/18/2020 13,380 4,070 13,287 30,737 04/11/2020 13,774 4,406 14,129 32,309 03/21/2020 14,782 5,264 18,012 38,058 02/29/2020 14,469 5,229 18,839 38,537 02/08/2020 14,464 5,184 19,774 39,422 01/04/2020 14,371 5,173 22,087 41,631 12/21/2019 14,295 4,993 22,645 41,933 11/30/2019 14,639 5,135 25,086 44,860 10/26/2019 15,594 5,203 28,622 49,419 09/30/2019 16,120 5,359 29,443 50,922 09/21/2019 15,695 5,341 30,266 51,302 08/31/2019 16,197 5,315 31,418 52,930 08/03/2019 16,676 5,493 33,485 55,654 06/01/2019 17,225 5,573 29,667 52,465 05/04/2019 17,537 5,686 26,422 49,645The growth has been steady and sharp: detention numbers rose by over 5,000 in just the last two weeks of the data series alone.
Non-Criminal Immigration Violators Drive GrowthThe largest category of detainees by far is “Other Immigration Violator”, meaning individuals with no pending or prior criminal charges. This group jumped from 11,217 in early 2023 to over 26,000 by mid-2025, more than doubling in that timeframe.
While criminal detainee categories also rose, the sheer volume of non-criminal detentions is the clearest signal of changing enforcement tactics under the Trump administration.
Comparing the Two AdministrationsBiden-era figures remained relatively stable, with total detentions hovering between 20,000 and 40,000. Under Trump, however, ICE has rapidly expanded its detainee population, particularly since January 2025.
This policy shift echoes Trump’s first term, when detention levels frequently surpassed 50,000, peaking in mid-2019. The current trajectory suggests a return to those levels or possibly beyond.
If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The Top 25 Nationalities of US Immigrants on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.
Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 16:40
Recent comments