California accounts for the vast majority of instances where local jails and prisons decline requests from federal authorities to detain undocumented immigrants arrested on criminal charges, according to newly released data.
Analysis of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a group advocating for stricter immigration enforcement, found that California facilities were responsible for over half of all refused ICE detainer requests across the United States since the beginning of the fiscal year 2023.
The data, covering the period from fiscal year 2023 through February 6, 2025, showed a total of 22,283 declined detainers nationwide. Of those, more than 13,000 refusals came from California. Illinois had the second-highest number with 2,946 declined detainers, followed by Virginia with 1,601…