AP Exclusive: ICE Quietly Removes Thousands of Detainees with Final Removal Orders from Public Locator

The Associated Press reported September 21, 2026 that ICE stopped publicly listing the locations of thousands of detainees with final orders of removal, an unannounced change made to its online detainee locator system on September 15, 2026. The change makes it far harder for lawyers and family members to find where a detainee is being held. Roughly 30% of ICE's 65,000+ detainees as of July 2026 had final removal orders, and nearly 16,000 people booked into ICE detention in July alone were subject to final removal orders — more than a third of that month's bookings. Immigration lawyers told AP that clients 'disappeared' from the system without warning; the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) warned members on Friday, September 18, with one organization saying 'every single one of our clients who has a final order has disappeared from the locator,' documenting 17 such cases by Monday, September 21. Lawyers said the change could make last-minute legal challenges to removal 'nearly impossible.' ICE did not confirm or deny the change but said detainees with final removal orders are being prioritized for deportation amid 'a historic number of injunctions' blocking individual removals. The exclusion does not apply to detainees at Adelanto, California or temporary holding facilities in Minneapolis, New York City, or suburban Chicago, where courts have ordered ICE to list new arrivals promptly.