U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sharply increased arrests over the summer as the Trump administration expanded immigration enforcement operations across the country and relied more heavily on state and local police.
The Department of Homeland Security says ICE arrested 50,208 people in July and another 50,925 in August, setting consecutive monthly records during President Donald Trump’s second term. August marked the third straight month in which ICE reported a new high for arrests, following 43,900 in June.
The figures illustrate the growing scale of the administration’s immigration crackdown even as federal officials have shifted away from some of the highly visible operations that drew widespread protests earlier in the year. Instead, ICE has increasingly relied on traffic stops, arrests in communities, cooperation with local law-enforcement agencies and enforcement activity at airports and other transportation facilities.
The administration says the expansion is necessary to fulfill Trump’s pledge to increase deportations and enforce federal immigration laws more aggressively. “The hard-working men and women of DHS continue to break records as they defend the homeland and protect the American people,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said when announcing the August totals.
The July numbers have varied slightly depending on the government dataset and timing of the reporting. ICE data provided to the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley and UCLA showed 49,571 arrests in July, according to an Associated Press analysis. DHS subsequently reported a finalized July total of 50,208. Either figure represented a dramatic increase from earlier in the year. The AP analysis found that July arrests were approximately 15% higher than in June and about 70% higher than the 29,241 arrests recorded in February.
The administration’s enforcement strategy has also broadened considerably. Before Trump returned to office, monthly ICE arrests were substantially lower and often involved people transferred to federal custody after being arrested by local or state authorities. Under the new approach, agents are increasingly making arrests directly in communities. ICE has conducted operations at workplaces, residences and public locations while also increasing arrests involving visa overstays and immigrants whose temporary protections have expired.
Airports have become another enforcement location. ABC News reported that ICE arrested more than 30 people at airports during July alone. Immigration attorneys told the network that some of those detained had no criminal records and possessed work authorization or other immigration documents at the time of their arrests. The administration maintains that immigration status itself can provide legal grounds for enforcement even when a person has not been convicted of another crime.
A major factor behind the increased numbers has been the growing participation of state and local law-enforcement agencies. ICE has rapidly expanded agreements under Section 287(g) of federal immigration law, which allows specially trained local and state officers to perform certain immigration-enforcement duties in cooperation with federal authorities. Those partnerships accounted for approximately 6,500 arrests in July, or about 13% of the total, according to the AP analysis.
A year earlier, local-law-enforcement partnerships accounted for less than 5% of monthly ICE arrests. Texas and Florida have played particularly large roles. Together, the two states accounted for nearly 20,000 immigration arrests in July, according to the government data analyzed by the AP. Both states have aggressively expanded cooperation between local police, sheriffs and federal immigration authorities.
The Marshall Project found that immigration arrests more than doubled in 15 states and Washington, D.C., compared with the same period a year earlier. The increase has occurred even in places where ICE has avoided the type of large, highly publicized raids that previously attracted national attention.
The composition of those being arrested has also become a major part of the political debate. DHS frequently highlights arrests involving people convicted of murder, sexual offenses, stalking and other serious crimes, arguing that the enforcement campaign is removing dangerous offenders from American communities.
But government data analyzed by the AP showed that more than half of the people arrested in July did not have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. That does not necessarily mean they were legally entitled to remain in the country. Immigration violations are generally civil matters, and people can be subject to detention or removal without having committed a separate criminal offense.
Still, the numbers have drawn criticism from immigration attorneys and advocacy organizations that argue the administration’s enforcement operation has expanded far beyond its stated emphasis on dangerous criminals. Administration officials reject that criticism and argue that federal law regarding illegal entry applies regardless of whether someone has also been convicted of another crime.
The increased arrest totals have been aided by billions of dollars in additional funding approved by Congress for immigration enforcement, detention capacity and personnel. ICE has been conducting an aggressive hiring campaign as the administration seeks to increase both arrests and removals.
But arrests do not automatically translate into immediate deportations.Some detainees pursue asylum claims, challenge removal orders in immigration court or have other pending legal proceedings. Others may be released while their cases continue. That distinction means the record arrest totals are an important measure of enforcement activity but do not by themselves indicate how many people will ultimately be deported.
