The Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Professional Responsibility, Inspections Program Office has a continuing requirement for detention facilities incident inspections and death reviews.

The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is an organizational element within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) is a unit of OPR, Inspections Program Office (ISP). ODO conducts compliance inspections of detention facilities in which detainees are accommodated for periods in excess of seventy-two (72) hours to determine compliance with the ICE 2025 and 2019 National Detention Standards (NDS), the 2025 Non-Dedicated Intergovernmental Standards (NDIDS), the 2011 Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS), as applicable, or the 2020 Family Residential Standards (FRS). The External Reviews and Analysis Unit (ERAU) is also a unit in the OPR, Inspections Program Office. ERAU is responsible for conducting administrative reviews of all deaths of individuals in ICE custody. The Detainee Death Review (DDR) is a focused, fact-finding, objective investigation of the facts and circumstances surrounding the death. ERAU also conducts special and focused reviews, as requested by ICE leadership.

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) is the entity responsible for managing detainees in the custody of ICE, and by extension, the facilities where individuals who are in ICE custody are detained. Facilities that house ICE detainees are classified as one of the following:

• Service Processing Centers (SPC) – ICE owned and operated;
• Contract Detention Facilities (CDF) – ICE or Contractor-owned and Contractor operated;
• Large dedicated Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) facilities and small non-dedicated IGSAs – ICE agreements with federal, state, and county owned and operated;
• Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) facilities –United States Marshals Service agreements with federal, state, and county owned and operated on which ICE is an agreement rider.

ODO compliance inspections provide ICE and ERO’s executive leadership with an independent assessment of ICE detention facilities.  An ODO compliance inspection includes a comprehensive review of a facility’s operational and administrative practices and policies, and a site visit and/or a remote inspection to determine if a detention facility is compliant with relevant ICE detention standards.  ODO provides feedback in its inspection reports by identifying not only deficiencies, but also best practices and facility-specific recommendations.  ODO reports include context about the cited deficiencies and describe potential improvements and possible operational challenges that may hinder the facility’s ability to make recommended changes or fully comply with the standards.  In addition, ODO evaluates facility performance beyond the applicable ICE National Detention Standards, such as noting general sanitation and maintenance levels, and identifies best practices at the inspected facilities that could be implemented at facilities nationwide.