U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates 14 holding rooms across California that function like unofficial detention facilities, according to data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by Colorado Times Recorder.
Across the nation, ICE uses a total of 170 such holding rooms, according to the Colorado Times Recorder.
Holding rooms have been used since 2011, typically as temporary holding facilities for people made to wait for transport to detention centers. A waiver issued by the Department of Homeland Security in June extended the time limit for detentions in hold rooms to be increased from twelve hours to three days, with an exception for rooms located in detention centers, which remain at a twelve-hour limit.
Holding rooms operate with different standards than detention centers and are not required to have beds or toilets. The rooms in these facilities are described as small, concrete spaces, lacking privacy, and holding multiple people, as reported by The Guardian.
Maksym Chernyak, 44, a Ukrainian national, died while in ICE custody at Miami's Krome Service and Processing Center last year, according to an ICE press release. After vomiting and seizing on February 18, 2025, Chernyak was transported to the HCA Kendall Hospital where he was pronounced dead two days later. His family alleges that he got sick in a holding room located inside the facility, according to reporting by CNN.
Department of Homeland Security officials have said that holding rooms are not considered detention centers and do not require the same oversight. Holding rooms do not have to undergo the same audits or inspections as official detention centers do.
Despite the Colorado Times Recorder’s report showing holding facilities located in ICE field offices and strip malls, former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said last August that ICE does not detain people in field offices, according to The Guardian.
Alleged conditions in official detention centers across the country, including medical negligence and an exponential rise in deaths, have raised concerns about what is occurring inside immigration-related facilities. More troubling, in some cases, oversight access to detention centers across the country has been denied.
NATIONWIDE KEY TAKEAWAYS
- In 2025, at least 109 holding rooms across the nation reportedly held children.
- In 2025, holding rooms detained elderly people up to 91-years-old.
- On average, 14,000 people per month were detained in hold rooms from January 2025 through October 2025.
- 17,351 people were detained in California holding rooms from January 2025 through October 2025.
- Over 5,000 violations of the 72-hour holding limit were recorded nationally, from January 2025 to October 2025.
The Los Angeles holding room detained the highest number of people in the state from January 2025 through October of last year—at least 6,536 people. The holding room with the second-highest number of people detained during the same time period was in Santa Ana with 2,091 people, followed by San Diego, with 1,966.
Last year, holding rooms in California detained children as young as 2 years old and seniors up to 83 years old.
The three day holding limit was violated at least 757 times in California holding rooms from January through October of 2025.
The Los Angeles holding room, located at 300 N. Los Angeles Street, Room B17, accounted for a majority of the violations in the state. At least 681 violations occurred in 2025, the second highest number in the nation.
The longest stay in the Los Angeles hold room, from January to October 2025, was for 311.08 hours—almost thirteen days.
The longest detainment in a California hold room, from January to October 2025, was for 2,639 hours—over 100 days—at SND District Staging in San Diego.
L.A. TACO reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment regarding the holding rooms. DHS asked for an extension on our 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline. At the time of publishing, no comment from DHS has been received.
To see if there is an ICE holding room in your community, you can check the map created by The Colorado Times Recorder.
CA HOLDING ROOM LOCATIONS
- Westminster Custody (WESHOLD) 501 The City Drive S. Orange, CA
- Ventura Custody Case: 321 Cortez Circle, Camarillo, CA 9301
- SNJ Hold Room: 603 San Juan Avenue, First Floor, Stockton, CA 95203
- SND District Staging: 880 Front Street, Suite 2242, San Diego, CA 92101
- Santa Maria Sub Office Ero: 740 West Century Street, Suite A, Santa Maria, CA 93455
- SFR Hold Room: 630 Sansome Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111
- San Bernardino Hold Room: 655 West Rialto Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92410
- Sacramento Hold: 650 Capitol Mall Room I-120, Sacramento, CA 95814
- Santa Ana Dro Holdroom: 34 Civic Center Plaza Room 1027, Santa Ana, CA 92701
- Redding Hold Room: 443 Redcliff Drive, Redding, CA 96002
- Los Cust Case B17: 300 N. Los Angeles Street Room B17, Los Angeles, CA 90012
- Imperial Sub Office Hold Room: 2051 North Waterman Avenue, Suite 101, El Centro, CA 92243
- Fresno Holdroom: 733 L Street, Fresno, CA 93721
- Bakersfield Hold: 800 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93301
