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1 [1] (April 24, 2026)

handle is hein.crs/goveuhn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con ressional Research Servc fo~ rung I Ieg~ I lived in ~ m co 914 April 24, 2026 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Non- Detained Docket (NDD) Background The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA, Title 8 of the U.S. Code) authorizes and sometimes requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain aliens (foreign nationals) who are subject to removal from the United States. This authority allows DHS to detain aliens who pose a threat to public safety, ensures that such individuals appear at immigration removal hearings, and permits DHS to remove an individual more effectively after an order of removal has been issued. Detained aliens represent what is known as the detained docket. However, DHS has broad discretion to release from custody those aliens who are not subject to mandatory detention or do not pose a threat or flight risk. These individuals represent the non-detained docket (NDD). Supervision of aliens on the detained and the non-detained dockets is the responsibility of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) within DHS's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ERO may arrest any alien who is believed to have violated U.S. immigration laws and remove any alien who has received a final removal order. The INA generally requires detention for applicants for admission who are removable, aliens removable on specified criminal and terrorist-related grounds, and those with final removal orders. The INA also grants DHS discretion to either detain or release from custody all other aliens in pending removal proceedings. After ICE arrests an alien not subject to mandatory detention, an immigration officer makes an initial custody determination and may make further determinations during the course of formal removal proceedings, based on standards and criteria promulgated by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Aliens may be detained in an ICE facility or released on bond or conditional parole; these individuals become part of the NDD. In any case, aliens must attend all subsequent proceedings before an immigration judge (IJ) within DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). Detained aliens may request a review of the custody determination during a bond hearing before an IJ, unless they are subject to detention without bond by federal law. ICE's detention capacity limits the number of detainees that can be held at any given time. ICE currently oversees detainees in over 200 ICE-owned, private, state, and local facilities that house from fewer than 5 aliens to more than 2,000. ICE data indicate that 66,978 individuals were detained as of April 9, 2026. Between FY1996 and FY2025, the average annual total of detained individuals ranged from about 9,000 to 60,000. Currently, ICE possesses detention bedspace capacity for roughly 70,000 individuals and has considered plans to expand this capacity to over 90,000 in FY2026. In contrast, the NDD refers to aliens who are subject to removal but are not detained. The docket includes individuals at any stage in the removal process. Individuals on the NDD remain under ICE supervision to help ensure that they regularly check in, comply with release conditions, attend court hearings, and comply with removal if so ordered. The NDD Population Generally, the NDD population consists of aliens that * have been released at ICE's discretion following an initial or subsequent custody determination (as discussed previously); * are currently incarcerated in federal, state, and local facilities while serving sentences for criminal offenses; * have final removal orders but were granted temporary protection through withholding of removal or the Convention Against Torture (CAT); * have final removal orders and are in the process of being repatriated; * have final removal orders but cannot be repatriated because their origin countries do not cooperate with the United States; * have final removal orders but absconded into the United States as fugitives; and * unbeknownst to ICE, have voluntarily departed the United States or died and remain on the NDD erroneously. ICE's most recently reported NDD population size of 7.3 million reflects its count of non-detained aliens as of February 26, 2026 (Figure 1). All such individuals have been processed by ICE, including an estimated 1.6 million with final orders of removal. The NDD count relies on a cumulative list of removable aliens that is continuously updated; thus, it excludes those with a confirmed departure or death. Some aliens have been on the NDD for decades; others have been placed on it more recently. A fraction of NDD individuals are enrolled in ICE's Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, which involves more intensive supervision than other NDD individuals who, in addition to attending all court hearings, typically must check in once a year with ICE. Currently, 180,000 individuals are on ATD. NDD Trends The NDD has more than tripled since FY2016 (Figure 1). Recent NDD growth reflects high numbers of encounters (apprehensions) of aliens by the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), part of DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP). From FY2016 through FY2020, annual USBP 0