New York Focus Reports County Jails Billed ICE About $20 Million Since Early 2025, Per FOIL Invoices

New York Focus, in a story republished by Documented on October 26, 2026, reports that New York county jails billed ICE around $20 million for detaining thousands of immigrants since early 2025. The figure rests on monthly invoices obtained by records request: the available records show nearly $18.1 million billed between January 2025 and July 2026, and the outlet estimates at least $1.3 million more for Nassau County, which has not yet produced documents under the state’s Freedom of Information Law. The $20 million is the outlet’s rounded total, and the Nassau part is an estimate from jail population data and reimbursement rates, not invoices.

Orange County billed ICE $8.4 million last year, up from $3.5 million in 2024, as its reimbursement rate rose 75 percent starting in November 2025. Broome County charged $110 per day per detainee and billed over $1.2 million through June. The article sets Broome Sheriff Fred Akshar’s statement that most detainees “do not stay longer than a week” against a housing report showing 18 of the 22 people held for ICE in April had been there for months.

The records come as a state law bars counties from holding people for ICE, with a November 25 compliance deadline; Akshar and Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta are among those suing to strike it down (see 2026-10-23–bolts-orange-county-ny-ending-ice-jail-contract-under-state-ban-sheriff-arteta-joins-suit-nov-25-compliance-deadline). The federal side of the same shift is in 2026-07-09–ice-batavia-hard-sided-expansion-after-new-york-jail-ban.