
ICE now uses Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS) that focus on results or outcomes. The standards established consistency of program operations and management expectations, accountability for compliance and a culture of professionalism. The NDS were originally issued in September 2000 to facilitate consistent conditions of confinement, access to legal representation and safe and secure operations across the detention system. ERO's Detention Oversight Unit ensures that detainees in ICE custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments and under appropriate conditions of confinement. Through an aggressive inspections program, ICE ensures its facilities follow ICE's National Detention Standards (NDS). At that point, ERO executes the judge's order. ERO processes and monitors detained and non-detained cases as they move through immigration court proceedings to conclusion.

Every case, whether "detained" or "non-detained," remains part of ERO's caseload and is actively managed until it is formally closed. Those who are released from secure custody constitute ERO's "nondetained" docket. citizens who are apprehended and determined to need custodial supervision are placed in detention facilities.

ICE detainees placed in ERO custody represent virtually every country in the world, various security classifications, both genders and medical conditions ranging from healthy to terminally ill. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) manages and oversees the nation’s civil immigration detention system.
