Many detainees spend months or years in U.S. detention centers

An official Immigration and Customs Enforcement database, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, showed a U.S. detainee population of exactly 32,000 on the evening of Jan. 25.

The data show that 18,690 immigrants had no criminal conviction, not even for illegal entry or low-level crimes like trespassing. More than 400 of those with no criminal record had been incarcerated for at least a year. A dozen had been held for three years or more; one man from China had been locked up for more than five years.

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Raymond Soeoth stands outside the federal government compound in Los Angeles' San Pedro district, where he was held for over two years at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.