Immigrants Are Reportedly Being Held in ICE Jails Despite Agreeing to Leave US

Accusations that ICE is a giant ATM machine for private prison contractors have been a common critique of the Trump administration’s immigration policies. But a key congresswoman in the fight against the agency has taken the criticism a step further.

Rep. LaMonica McIver (NJ-10) says the push for profits within the mass deportation-industrial complex has put it at odds with the Trump administration’s goal of deporting millions of immigrants as quickly as possible.

For McIver, efforts to hold ICE accountable have become personal. She is facing up to 17 years in prison for making contact with an ICE agent outside the Delany Hall ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey. Federal prosecutors have charged her with three counts of forcibly interfering with a federal officer.

During an interview on Capitol Hill, the first-year lawmaker said she had spoken to multiple detainees at the Delany Hall facility who told her they had voluntarily agreed to leave the country, but were still being held in the US months afterward.

“When I go to Delaney Hall I speak to numerous detainees there. They tell me how they have signed a voluntary deportation agreement months ago and are literally still being held at the detention center,” she added.

ICE did not respond to our request to comment on the length of detention time for people who voluntarily agree to leave the country. However, their own statistics suggest that the average duration of a detainee’s stay has increased markedly.

Between September 2023 and September 2025, the average in-custody length of stay has risen by roughly a third. The average period of time a person is held has increased from 52 days to 70 days.

This increase comes as the number of people held in ICE detention has more than doubled, rising from roughly 24,000 in late January 2023 to nearly 60,000 by late September 2025.

CoreCivic and GEO Group, the primary detention center contractors, have reported increased profits and revenues in 2025. Both companies have contracts that reward occupancy, with some allowing per diems that pay more based on the number of beds filled.

“The prolonged detention that Congresswoman McIver is describing is the system working exactly as private contractors designed it to,” said Gracie Willis, Rapid Response Coordinating Attorney for the National Immigration Project, a legal advocacy nonprofit.

“We know that ICE makes promises to people about a swifter deportation or money if they agree to forfeit their cases, or threatens them with indefinite detention or targeting of their families if they don’t, but those promises are illusory because of how tied in these private interests are.”

McIver’s allegations come as the fiscal watchdog raises alarms over a plan to give ICE and its partner agency, Customs and Border Protection, even more money.

Earlier this month the House and Senate approved a framework for adding an additional $70 billion in funding for ICE and CBP. The money is additional to the roughly $140 billion allocated for both in the Big Beautiful Bill.

“Teeing up a second reconciliation bill to fund ICE and CBP is not about any immediate funding need, it’s about insulating these agencies from congressional oversight for the remainder of the president’s term in office,” said Gabe Murphy, a policy analyst for Taxpayers for Common Sense.

“Furthermore, this funding is financed by adding to our national debt. The budget resolution that included these reconciliation instructions does not require the spending to be offset by cuts to other programs or increased revenue.”

Republicans plan to push through the increase through a process called reconciliation. It allows legislation to bypass the Senate filibuster provided it meets certain criteria — primarily, that the bill has a fiscal impact on federal spending.

To ensure Congress has better access to ICE facilities, McIver introduced a bill this week to strengthen the already existing language that requires the right to unannounced visits to all ICE detention centers for legislators.

“I did not dream of going to jail for doing my job in Congress,” McIver said. “ICE tried to stop us for what should be a routine, showing up for the people we represent.”