Latest federal payment to state for ICE detainees more than triples

Indiana’s second payment from the federal government for housing hundreds of immigrant detainees at a state prison more than tripled for November 2025.

The Indiana Department of Correction said Tuesday the payment was $3.86 million. At a rate of $291.24 a day that is more than 13,000 bed spots, or about 440 detainees per day.

In October — the state’s first payment and while capacity was ramping up — the payment was $1.17 million for 4,040 bed spots.

Indiana has a two-year agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold up to 1,000 detainees at a time in a previously unused wing of the Miami Correctional Facility near Peru. It is a high-medium security prison holding only men.

Miami is considered a long-term facility by ICE, holding the men for three days or more. The average stay is expected to be about three weeks but was running at about a month when Indiana Capital Chronicle toured the facility in December.

The immigration detainees are kept separate from about 1,800 state prisoners who are held in an identical set of buildings.

Indiana’s State Budget Committee in September approved $16 million for facility upgrades.

Department of Correction Commissioner Lloyd Arnold said that would be recouped by the high per diem rate, which is about four times the $75 daily per-person cost for inmates at the prison.

One detainee was found unresponsive in his cell last month. Miami County Coroner John Boyer ruled 59-year-old Lorth Sim’s death to be natural.

A certified forensic pathologist conducted an autopsy and found his cause of death to be “atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with other significant conditions of diabetes mellitus.” The condition involves plaque buildup in arterial walls, according to the American Heart Association.

Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com