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ICE detention inspections fell by nearly half in a single year while the number of people in immigration custody rose by more than half, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Nov. 5. The congressional watchdog found that ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight conducted 102 inspections in fiscal 2025, down from 194 in fiscal 2024, and that the agency never used data to test whether the oversight it kept is enough to catch problems at a detention system that grew from 128 to 172 facilities between April 2025 and April 2026.
The report (GAO-27-109299) was requested by Democrats in both chambers, including Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Dick Durbin, Rep. Bennie Thompson and Rep. Jamie Raskin. It lands two days after an election that, in Durbin’s words, shifted power in Congress, and it points to a lever lawmakers control: the spending language that once tied ICE detention contracts to inspection results.
How ICE detention inspections changed, office by office
GAO examined four DHS bodies that inspect facilities holding people longer than 72 hours. Only the ICE Health Service Corps kept its process unchanged.
- Office of Detention Oversight (ODO): Before fiscal 2025, ODO inspected facilities with an average daily population of 10 or more twice a year. It now inspects dedicated ICE facilities once a year and shared facilities every two years. Facilities holding 49 or fewer people now inspect themselves, and ODO has largely stopped unannounced visits.
- Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO): It received no appropriation in fiscal 2026 and no longer inspects facilities, though its authorizing statute remains on the books.
- DHS Office of Inspector General: The one office moving the other way, with $20 million in fiscal 2026 for roughly 96 additional unannounced contractor inspections starting in August 2026.
| Measure | Earlier | Later | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| ODO inspections | 194 (FY2024) | 102 (FY2025) | -47% |
| Average daily detained population | 40,587 (Apr. 2025) | 61,817 (Apr. 2026) | +52% |
| Authorized over-72-hour facilities | 128 (Apr. 2025) | 172 (Apr. 2026) | +34% |
The headline drop overstates the cut somewhat, and DHS made that point to GAO. Of the 194 inspections in fiscal 2024, 78 were follow-up visits rather than full rated inspections. DHS argued that “a reduction in the number of inspections completed does not inherently reflect a reduction in the number of facilities receiving a rated assessment.” That is a fair distinction, but it does not answer GAO’s core point: the frequency of full inspections was cut just as ICE added more than 40 facilities.
The inspections were finding things. In fiscal 2024, ODO identified 933 deficiencies at the 70 facilities that followed a single set of detention standards, an average of about 13 per facility based on GAO’s figures. Problems at that rate are what a twice-yearly schedule was built to catch, and what a biennial self-inspection may miss. Recent cases show how such gaps surface, from a detainee death at Otay Mesa that put county inspections in focus to detainees at Camp East Montana asking a judge to enforce the government’s own inspection findings.
The contract safeguard that quietly lapsed
The least noticed finding may matter most. Since fiscal 2019, appropriations law had barred ICE from continuing a contract with a facility whose two most recent rated inspections fell below “adequate.” That provision was left out of the fiscal 2026 DHS appropriations act, and ICE officials told GAO it no longer applies. With fewer inspections and no funding consequence for failing ones, inspections have lost much of their leverage over contractors.
Restoring that rider needs only a line in the next DHS spending bill, making it one of the more realistic tools for a new congressional majority, though any bill still needs the president’s signature. The stakes are large: ICE received more than $45 billion for detention across fiscal 2025 and 2026, GAO notes.
ICE’s rationale and GAO’s two recommendations
ICE’s stated aim was to ease the burden on facilities and make it easier to sign detention agreements with state and local partners. ICE officials told GAO they do not believe the changes affect their ability to oversee facilities. GAO found the agency “did not use evidence,” such as past deficiency data or contract-compliance records, in making them.
GAO made two recommendations: that the ICE director use data to determine whether the inspections across DHS are collectively sufficient, and that ICE modify its own inspections based on what it finds. DHS agreed with both but asked GAO to close them as already implemented. GAO declined, saying ICE had not shown an assessment that considers all the changes together. Durbin, the Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, said the administration “should take immediate steps to respond” to the findings.
GAO recommendations are not binding, so hearings and appropriations are the likelier pressure points. ICE’s other oversight fights, including lawmakers turned away from a Kern County facility and an earlier GAO dispute over body cameras, suggest the agency will defend its approach rather than reverse it voluntarily.
What to watch
- Inspector General reports: Findings from the contractor-led OIG inspections, the main independent check left on the expanded network.
- Fiscal 2027 DHS appropriations: Whether the two-rating contract bar returns, and whether OIDO is funded again.
- GAO’s open recommendations: Whether ICE produces the holistic assessment GAO says is missing.
This article is for general information and is not legal advice.
Sources
- GAO-27-109299, Immigration Detention: Changes in Inspections of ICE Facilities Raise Questions About Oversight (Nov. 5, 2026)
- Full text of the GAO report, as posted by Sen. Durbin’s office
- Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, Durbin statement releasing the GAO report (Nov. 5, 2026)
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