The Human Cost of the U.S. Deportation System

Since January 2025, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention system has increased in size. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the average daily population of people held in ICE custody increased by 71 percent between Jan. 20, 2025, and July 30, 2026. Over the same period, the number of authorised ICE detention facilities increased from 134 to 272. The expansion has required new detention capacity, transportation services, and additional contracts. Federal records show payments and obligations involving private detention companies and transportation providers, while agreements with foreign governments have created additional arrangements for the detention or removal of people outside their countries of citizenship.

A Family Separated

For Juliana, immigration enforcement became personal when members of her family stopped coming home. She lives in the United States, and her family is from Central America.

Her brother-in-law, Gregorio, was detained while going to work. According to Juliana, he spent about two weeks in immigration custody before being deported to Honduras. Her cousin was also detained and spent approximately a week in custody before being deported.

Juliana said the men had no criminal records and had come to the United States to work. She said some family members signed documents agreeing to leave the country after being told they had little chance of remaining.

Another relative, Ramón, was detained on the same day as her cousin. He was released and remained in the United States while his immigration case continued, Juliana said.

Gregorio has a 3-year-old son. Juliana said videos of his father's arrest circulated in local news reports and on social media. Nearly a year later, she said, the boy continued to wait for his father to return. At night, he would go to the window, pray for his father's return and cry before going to sleep.

The family's experience unfolded as the United States expanded its immigration detention system and increased its use of contracts for detention, transportation, and removal operations. 

Expansion of ICE Detention

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention system expanded substantially between January 2025 and July 2026.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office's report on immigration detention expansion, the average daily population of people held in ICE custody rose from 39,314 on Jan. 20, 2025, to 67,180 on July 30, 2026, an increase of 71 percent. The number of authorised detention facilities increased from 134 to 272 over the same period.

ICE obtains detention space through contracts with private companies, agreements with state and local governments, and arrangements involving other federal facilities.

The expansion has also taken place alongside a rise in deaths in custody. A review by The Guardian found that 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the highest annual total in more than two decades and equal to the previous record from 2004.

The deaths involved included those from illnesses, medical complications, suicides, and other causes. 

What Detention Contracts Pay For

ICE uses different contractual arrangements to obtain detention space and related services. Their payment structures vary, and a contract's total value does not necessarily represent the amount paid per detained person or a company's profit.

A 2021 GAO review of ICE detention contracts found that the agency had used agreements containing guaranteed minimum payments for detention capacity. In May 2020, ICE paid $20.5 million for an average of more than 12,000 unused beds per day.

A more recent example involves The GEO Group, which received an ICE delivery order for detention and transportation services associated with Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey.

The federal contract record on USAspending lists $22.68 million in obligations under the delivery order. Its current period ran from March 1 through June 30, 2026, with a potential end date of Feb. 28, 2027. The record identifies GEO Group as the recipient but does not establish a per-detainee price or how much of the obligated amount ultimately becomes a payment.

Camp East Montana: Paying for Unused Capacity

Camp East Montana, an ICE detention facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, provides a documented example of how contract terms can affect government spending.

The facility opened in August 2025 under a contract valued at approximately $1.3 billion. The Army initially awarded and administered the contract before transferring its administration to ICE in October 2025.

In its review of Camp East Montana, GAO found that the Army began paying for guards, medical services, transportation, meals, and other services on Aug. 1, 2025, even though no detained noncitizens were housed there until Aug. 16. GAO estimated that the Army wasted up to $11.5 million on services during that initial period. It also identified approximately $423,000 in unnecessary meal costs between Aug. 16 and Sept. 30, when the facility operated below its designated capacity.

After ICE took over contract administration, the agency continued operating under the original contract terms. At the end of February 2026, the facility held approximately 1,600 people, although the contract required payment for meals for as many as 5,000.

GAO calculated that ICE paid approximately $7.1 million for meals it did not need between Oct. 1, 2025, and March 12, 2026. The agency recommended changes, including pricing that adjusts to the number of people detained.

The Cost of Moving People

Detention is only one part of the immigration enforcement system. People may be transferred between facilities, placed on domestic flights, and subsequently transported out of the United States. These operations involve federal contracts, private aviation companies and, in some cases, agreements with foreign governments.

According to Human Rights First's ICE Flight Monitor, at least 7,454 immigration enforcement flights took place between Jan. 20 and Aug. 31, 2025, a 34 percent increase over the same period in 2024.

The monitor recorded 2,084 immigration enforcement flights in August 2026, including 325 removal flights to at least 40 countries and 1,267 domestic transfer or “shuffle,” flights. The August total for this year was nearly 50 percent higher than the 1,393 flights recorded in August 2025.

These figures count flights rather than individual passengers or completed deportations. A person may be transferred between facilities before being placed on a removal flight.

Federal records identify CSI Aviation as a contractor providing charter-flight services for immigration enforcement operations.

A delivery order published on USAspending shows that the March 2025 award covered scheduled large-aircraft flights and special high-risk charter flights. The order lists approximately $562 million in obligations, with a potential award value of approximately $585.5 million.

The record also lists approximately $502.6 million in outlays. Obligations are funds committed under an award, while outlays are payments recorded against it. Neither figure establishes the cost of transporting an individual or the contractor's profit.

CSI Aviation's role as a contracting company is also distinct from that of the airlines operating individual flights. The available record does not establish how much of the award was subsequently paid to each carrier or subcontractor.

Third-Country Transfers

Not everyone removed from the United States is sent directly to their country of citizenship. Under third-country transfer arrangements, U.S. authorities have sent people to countries where they are not citizens.

Human Rights First's ICE Flight Monitor reporting has documented flights involving third-country nationals to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Rwanda, and South Sudan.

In the case of Costa Rica, the United States reached an agreement allowing the country to receive up to 25 third-country nationals per week. Human Rights First reported that flights under the arrangement generally took place weekly beginning in April 2026. Its monitoring recorded 21 flights to Costa Rica, 19 of which carried third-country nationals.

The available records reviewed for this investigation do not establish a payment amount from the United States to Costa Rica for each person transferred.

The arrangements have also raised human-rights issues. In its January 2026 assessment of U.S. immigration policies, Human Rights Watch raised concerns about transfers to countries where people might face persecution or other harm without a meaningful opportunity to challenge their removal.

El Salvador: A Documented Payment

El Salvador became a prominent destination in the U.S. government's immigration enforcement strategy in March 2025.

On March 15 of last year, the United States transferred more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador. U.S. authorities alleged that many were members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Salvadoran authorities also received people whom the United States alleged were members of MS-13, another notorious gang.

The publicly announced arrangement contemplated a payment of up to $6 million for El Salvador to hold as many as 300 people for one year.

Separately, documents released through litigation and published by Democracy Forward show that the U.S. Department of State provided El Salvador with $4.76 million on March 22, 2025. The correspondence also included conditions associated with the agreement.

The $4.76 million transfer is documented in government correspondence. The records do not establish how every dollar was subsequently spent within El Salvador's prison system or that the amount represented a profit.

Edicson Quintero: From U.S. Immigration System to Notorious Prison

Edicson David Quintero Chacón, a Venezuelan migrant and father of two, traveled through several countries before reaching the United States. His journey ended with his transfer to El Salvador, where he was imprisoned at the Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT.

According to reporting by La Prensa Gráfica published on March 21, 2025, Quintero left Chile on Jan. 5, 2024, and traveled through South and Central America before reaching Mexico. While in Mexico, he registered for CBP One, a U.S. government application used at the time to schedule appointments for people seeking to present themselves at the U.S.-Mexico border.

After waiting without receiving an appointment, he surrendered to U.S. immigration authorities on April 20, 2024.

According to his family's account reported by La Prensa Gráfica, Quintero was initially released and instructed to attend an immigration appointment on May 13, 2024. When he appeared, authorities detained him and transferred him to an immigration detention facility in Georgia.

The American Immigration Council's account of his case states that Quintero was taken into ICE custody during a routine check-in while his immigration case was pending. His case later became the subject of a federal habeas corpus petition challenging his continued detention and transfer to El Salvador.

In January 2025, Quintero sought voluntary departure to Venezuela, according to his family. Instead, on March 15, he was among the Venezuelans transferred to El Salvador and imprisoned at CECOT. His family disputed the allegations that he belonged to Tren de Aragua.

Quintero's sister recognised him in footage of the deportees because of a tattoo bearing their mother's name. According to the family's account, they were unable to communicate with him after his arrival at the prison.

His case illustrates how a person who entered the U.S. immigration system seeking processing could move through detention and removal procedures before being transferred to a third country, far from his family. 

What Families Pay

For families such as Juliana's, the financial consequences of immigration enforcement extend beyond government contracts. Detention and deportation can mean legal expenses, lost income, and the difficulty of maintaining a household while a family member is detained or removed.

Juliana said one American employer paid for a legal consultation for a family member. The lawyer later told them the case would be difficult to win. Another employer, she said, promised assistance but ultimately did not provide the help the family expected.

The family also described fear and uncertainty after the arrests. Juliana said people in her community became afraid to interact with police because they feared that doing so could bring them into contact with immigration enforcement.

Her family is now considering leaving the United States and returning to Honduras or moving elsewhere.