The numbers
Every figure links to where it came from. The county jail dashboard is updated daily and the numbers below are a snapshot; check the live page before quoting.
National detention
- 70,766 people in ICE detention on Jan. 24, 2026, up from about 40,000 at the start of 2025 and the highest since TRAC began tracking in 2019; 74.2 percent (52,504) with no criminal conviction (Stateline).
- 65,765 in detention as of July 11, 2026; 70.6 percent with no criminal conviction (TRAC).
- 506 U.S. citizens detained, Jan. 2025 to Sept. 2026, by ProPublica's count (ProPublica).
- 23 deaths in custody from October 2025 to early March 2026 (NPR).
Salt Lake County jail, ICE dashboard, Oct. 11, 2026
Source: Salt Lake County Sheriff, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Dashboard, Daily Statistics page, last updated 10/11/2026 2:29 a.m. The dashboard's own definitions: a detainer 'does not take effect until the individual's criminal charges are resolved'; ICE then has up to 48 hours to take custody; an ICE hold (Form I-203) is valid up to 72 hours because the jail is an under-72-hour facility.
| Measure | Oct. 11, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Total with ICE detainer or hold | 226 |
| ICE detainers | 223 |
| ICE holds (I-203) | 3 |
| Share of jail population | 10.0% (2,251 in custody) |
| Also held on state or federal charges | 224 |
| Lead charge: Felony 1 / 2 / 3 | 87 / 30 / 29 |
| Lead charge: Misdemeanor A / B / C | 17 / 4 / 2 |
| Non-ICE federal hold / other hold / blank | 40 / 3 / 12 |
| Most common lead charges | Sexual assault 58, non-ICE federal 40, assault 26, drugs 20, homicide 11, kidnapping 9, burglary 8, DUI 7 |
| Released Oct. 10 | 63, of whom 4 to ICE (6.3%) |
| Booked in by ICE Oct. 10 | 0 |
Read it honestly. Of the 226, 224 are also held on state or federal criminal charges, most of them felonies. The county is not holding those people for ICE; it is holding them on their own cases. The number that matters for county policy is how many are held after their cases end, on the detainer alone, and for how long. The dashboard does not publish that. On Oct. 10, 4 of the 63 people released went to ICE.
Earlier dashboard figures
- 2016 to 2020: 3,269 detainers, falling from 909 in 2017 to 308 in 2020 (KSL, March 2021).
- Jan. 20 to Mar. 18, 2025: 196 detainers and 138 holds, against 180 and 115 the year before (Fox 13, March 2025).
What a bed costs
Salt Lake County does not publish a per-inmate daily cost. The estimate below is built from the county's own budget figures and two comparables. Use it as 'roughly $145' and show the basis.
| Method | Inputs | Per bed-day |
|---|---|---|
| Top-down, full cost | Council members put the jail's operating cost at 'roughly $120 million a year' (Citizen Portal summary, July 2026, secondary). 2,251 in custody Oct. 11. $120M / 2,251 / 365 | about $146 |
| Cross-check | Sheriff's Office 2026 adopted budget $211.0M (Budget in Brief, p. 15); if the jail is 55 to 65% of it | $141 to $167 |
| Marginal, adding beds | Oxbow third pod, 184 beds, '$6.4 million to open and operate' (county, Feb. 11, 2025); 36 FTE, $1.9M ongoing | about $92 |
| Comparable: Maricopa County, Ariz. | Housing per diem $132.09 for FY25, includes medical and overhead (per diem letter); $145.86 for FY2026-27 | $132 to $146 |
| Comparable: Weber County, Utah | 'Actually cost them $73 to $76' per state inmate while the state paid $52 to $64 (ABC4), likely direct cost only | $73 to $76 |
| What ICE pays | $73.10 per bed-day for up to 10 Marshals beds (KUER); nothing for a detainer hold until custody (8 C.F.R. 287.7(e)) | $73.10 / $0 |
The jail runs at 91 to 95 percent of capacity and a December 2025 legislative audit found the crowding is pushing people out early and raising reoffense rates, so a bed held for ICE is a bed the county cannot use; the full-cost figure is the fair one. ICE's $73.10 is below both estimates. A 48-hour detainer hold after a case ends costs the county roughly $185 to $290 per person at full cost, and ICE pays nothing for it.
Arrests and transfers in Utah
- ICE arrests in Utah: 3,040 in 2025 (Utah News Dispatch) or 4,164 (KUER, April 2026, different data cut); 3,467 in Jan. to July 2026 vs. 2,116 the same months of 2025 (KUER).
- 58 percent of Utah arrests are custodial transfers from other law enforcement, i.e. from jails (KUER).
- 27 percent of arrestees had no criminal charge or conviction; 54 percent of at-large arrestees; about half of 287(g) arrestees (KUER).
- Of more than 7,400 people arrested and detained in Utah since Jan. 2025 (data to Aug. 6, 2026): almost 95 percent moved out of state; 4.6 facilities on average; about 70 percent of out-of-state stays over 72 hours; about 5,500 deported, 579 released (Tribune).
- Wasatch County jail transfers to ICE: 36 in 2024, 107 in 2025 (Park Record).
Sanpete County, Sept. 30, 2026
- Five people detained at traffic stops in Moroni, Mount Pleasant and Fountain Green between about 6 and 11 p.m.; ICE agents rode with three North Valley officers as 287(g) training (Tribune).
- About 80 of roughly 400 students absent at North Sanpete Middle School the next day; 56 at Moroni Elementary (Tribune).
- Roughly 30 percent of the turkey plant's workers reported the next day, by one resident's account (Sanpete Messenger).
- Moroni: 1,535 people, 32.8 percent Hispanic, 8.3 percent foreign-born (ACS 2024 via Data USA).
- Utah: 623,494 Hispanic residents, 17.6 percent of the state; Salt Lake County 22.9 percent (2025 estimates, KSL).