Migrants Languish In U.S. Detention Centers

MIAMI (AP) — Prolonged detention has become more common in President Donald Trump’s second term, at least partly because a new policy generally prohibits immigration judges from releasing detainees while their deportation cases wind through backlogged courts. The number of people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention has topped 70,000 for the first time. The agency said there were 7,252 people in custody at least six months in mid-January, including 79 held for more than two years. That’s more than double the 2,849 who were in ICE custody at least six months in December 2024, the last full month of Joe Biden’s presidency.