Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests have surged since President Donald Trump assumed office, already surpassing totals recorded under his predecessor, according to new data released Wednesday. ICE attributed this increase to a shift in policies from the Biden administration, accusing the previous administration of artificially suppressing enforcement numbers.
“We have uncovered that the previous administration… was cooking the books on ICE data,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told reporters. “They were purposely misleading the American people by categorizing individuals processed and released into the interior of the United States as ICE arrests. A comprehensive review was done internally here with ICE. We found tens of thousands of cases that were recorded as arrests when, in fact, these instances were illegal aliens that were simply processed and released into the American communities.”
Senior officials indicated that most of the 113,431 arrests in fiscal year 2024 were classified as “pass-through” arrests, meaning individuals were briefly processed and then released into the country. Officials also emphasized that this approach has shifted dramatically, highlighting that none of the arrests under the current administration involved such immediate releases—a notable change from previous practices. “What we are doing now is actual immigration enforcement, not enforcement theater,” an official told Fox News.
As for interior arrests, in FY 2024, ICE enforcement removal operations made 33,242 at-large arrests, only 29% of all ICE arrests. For comparison, officials say that ICE made 32,809 arrests from Jan. 20 to March 10, meaning they will surpass the FY 2024 number this week, the outlet reported. Of those arrested, 14,111 had criminal convictions and another 9,980 faced pending charges. Over 1,150 were suspected gang members, two and a half times the 483 arrested in the same period last year. “The difference between these recent arrests and those from last year is now we are actually taking enforcement actions on each and every illegal alien arrested,” an official said, Fox reported.
The Trump administration entered office promising a “historic” deportation effort aimed at reversing the Biden-era crisis at the southern border. It swiftly dismantled Biden-era parole programs, intensified immigration enforcement, and ended various parole policies. These actions were accompanied by a significant reduction in border encounters and illegal crossings. Officials credit the administration’s policies with sharply reducing illegal crossings and border encounters.
Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security also announced the replacement of the controversial CBP One app with a new platform, CBP Home, designed to streamline the self-deportation process. “We are empowering [ICE agents] to do their jobs,” Lyons said. “After four years of not being allowed to effectively do their jobs, our agents and officers are excited to get to work and fulfill the agency’s mission.”