ICE Disappears Transgender Detainee Data From Public Reports
Omission of federally mandated transgender detainee data signals rollback in transparency as Trump administration resumes hardline detention policies.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has stopped including transgender population statistics in its biweekly detention reports, in apparent violation of a congressional mandate first enacted in 2021, per an article by Vera, an advocacy organization focused on mass incarceration. The omission marks another step in the Trump administration’s rollback of protections for transgender people in federal custody.
Since February 4, 2025—shortly after President Donald Trump returned to office—ICE has failed to publish data on transgender individuals in its custody, despite an ongoing legal requirement to do so. The last known report containing such data was published on January 17, 2025, and archived by the Vera Institute of Justice.
As we’ve reported in the past, transgender detainees face unique challenges in ICE detention. Disappearances of trans folk in detention can be sudden, leaving other detainees to speculate on their fate (read more here).
The 2021 mandate requires…