(for the Prison Policy Initiative)

Because it is so fragmented, the federal system can be particularly hard to understand, which only makes it harder to change effectively through policy. We explain the agencies involved, the loophole that undermines ‘sanctuary’ policies, and overlooked problems with federal pretrial detention.

The federal system of incarceration and detention makes up a relatively small, but rapidly expanding, share of confinement in the United States. Between 1984 and 2026, the number of people confined by the federal government has exploded by 631%. And while that number is below its 2011 peak, federal incarceration and detention have grown by 12% in just the last two years.

The Trump administration’s recent, belligerent use of policing and prosecutions have already left their mark on the federal system, especially with regard to mass detention and deportation. But even so, it’s not easy to understand the scope of this corner of the system and how its practices and priorities have shifted over time. Opaque federal police and prison agencies make it hard to see these changes, or to know which agency is responsible. And it’s harder still to know what federal policy reforms or state and local resistance would be most effective to rein in runaway expansion plans.

In this briefing, we try to overcome these issues by piecing together data from various sources to provide a clearer picture of the patchwork federal system, from ICE detention and electronic monitoring to federal prisons and pretrial supervision. We show trends in detention and incarceration, and examine the role that the criminalization of immigration (including the exploitation of a loophole in sanctuary policies) has played in shaping the system. Finally, we round out our analysis by spotlighting some of the glaring problems with federal pretrial detention and highlighting the fiscal costs of the system.

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