Research Note Researched

Tracking Resources — Maps, Monitors, and Databases

External resources for monitoring the detention-industrial complex.

Facility Maps

  • COURIER Newsroom: MAP of all 23 ICE warehouse locationscouriernewsroom.com/news/map-ice-detention-warehouse. Most comprehensive publicly available map. Includes Google Map with clickable locations showing status and community responses. Updated regularly.

  • Freedom for Immigrants: Interactive Detention Mapfreedomforimmigrants.org/map. Rolling count of ~265 permanent detention centers plus clickable layer showing confirmed warehouse purchases. Updated since January 2025.

  • DemLabs / Project Salt Box: ICE Detention Facility Acquisition Trackerthedemlabs.org. Google Map tracking proposed and confirmed sites with property-level detail (address, ownership, sale status, building specs).

Flight Monitoring

  • Human Rights First: ICE Flight Monitorhumanrightsfirst.org. Monthly reports since August 2025 tracking deportation flights and domestic transfer (“shuffle”) flights using publicly available aviation data. Key finding: 2,253 deportation flights to 79 countries in Year 1; 9,066 domestic transfer flights (132% increase); 35 new local airports added.

Investigative Journalism

  • Jenn Budd (Borderland Talk)jennbudd.substack.com. Former senior Border Patrol agent. Tracks facility design, due process obstruction, CBP/ICE accountability.

  • WITNESS Media Lab: Eyes on ICElab.witness.org/projects/eyes-on-ice. How communities can safely, ethically, and effectively document ICE abuses through video/media.

  • Austin Kocher (Substack)austinkocher.substack.com. Academic researcher tracking detention expansion geography.

  • The RAMM / Transparency Cascade Presstheramm.substack.com. After the Arrest series (detention system), The Architecture series (system design), Bradford/Sabot investigation.

  • ACLU: ICE Detention Expansion FOIA — Filed September 2024. Released documents showing Sabot, GEO, CoreCivic, and MTC proposals. Revealed proposals for Utah and Wyoming facilities with Circuit Court boundary maps.

  • American Immigration Councilamericanimmigrationcouncil.org. Research reports on detention expansion, facility-by-facility tracking.

Financial

  • USAspending.gov — Federal contract awards searchable by contractor and agency.
  • GEO Group SEC filings — Quarterly and annual reports documenting ICE revenue.
  • CoreCivic SEC filings — Same.

Key April 2026 Development

DHS announced a pause on new warehouse purchases as it reviews contracts signed under Noem. This does NOT pause the IGSA model — county-led facilities like Bradford County continue advancing. As Jenn Budd noted: “They are transitioning to having local sheriff departments hold the warehouse leases. So, technically they are pausing ‘buying’ warehouses but they are still creating warehouse camps.”

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Last updated: Apr 6, 2026