An ICE arrest detainer (Form I-247/I-247A) is a written request from ICE/DHS asking a state or local law enforcement agency to notify ICE and, if possible, hold a named person up to 48 hours (excluding weekends/holidays) beyond when they would otherwise be released so ICE can assume custody. It is an administrative request—not a judicial arrest warrant—and does not itself authorize federal agents to arrest someone; ICE must rely on separate statutory authority, a judicial warrant, or its own probable-cause determinations to take custody. (Detainers are issued under 8 C.F.R. §287.7 and ICE has internal detainer policies.)
No. California law (the California Values Act, SB 54; Gov. Code §7284.6) generally prohibits state and local agencies from using resources to hold or transfer people for immigration enforcement and bars honoring ICE detainers except in narrow exceptions (e.g., a judicial warrant or judicial probable-cause determination or other statutory exceptions). California Attorney General guidance and local policies implement SB 54; detainers therefore are not legally mandatory for California jails.
ICE’s numbers in the DHS release reflect ICE administrative data counting noncitizens with active detainers and those ICE says were released from local custody since Jan. 20, 2026; the agency reported aggregate crime-category tallies for those groups. ICE did not publish a public methodology or underlying jail records in the release; standard ICE practice is to use internal enforcement databases (e.g., IDENT/ENFORCE/NCIC entries and detention records) to produce such aggregate counts. The DHS news release itself gives the counts but not a full, independent data methodology.
Arrest, charge, and conviction are distinct legal stages: an arrest is a seizure by police based on suspected criminal conduct; a charge (complaint, information, or indictment) is a prosecutor’s formal allegation that the person committed a crime; a conviction is a court finding (guilty plea or jury/verdict) establishing criminal guilt. ICE’s aggregate counts typically include arrests or criminal records listed in enforcement databases and may mix different stages (arrested/charged/convicted) unless ICE specifies otherwise—so the counts do not by themselves prove convictions.
When ICE later arrests someone it previously sought via a detainer, the person can be placed in federal immigration detention, screened for removal (deportation) proceedings, and—if removable—issued a Notice to Appear and processed for removal; ICE may detain the person pending removal or release them on bond/parole under immigration law. Criminal prosecution by state or federal authorities is separate; ICE removal actions are civil (immigration) proceedings, though ICE can coordinate with prosecutors where criminal charges exist.
Todd Lyons is the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a senior DHS law‑enforcement official responsible for ICE enforcement policies; Rob Bonta is California’s attorney general, who issues state legal guidance (including on SB 54) and defends state policy on cooperation with federal immigration authorities; Gavin Newsom is California’s governor, who sets statewide policy priorities and can direct state agencies but does not control local law enforcement decisions directly. All three are key interlocutors in disputes over state‑local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.