WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 50,000 people in July, marking the highest single monthly arrest total during the second Trump administration, according to new figures. The July arrest tally of 49,571 represents a 15% increase from 43,021 arrests in June and a 70% rise from 29,241 in February, following an enforcement surge in Minnesota. This data was provided by ICE to the University of California, Berkeley's Deportation Data Project and analyzed by The Associated Press.
The increase in immigration arrests indicates that the administration continues its mass deportations agenda, despite a shift earlier this year from high-profile operations in major American cities to less publicized arrests. Before Trump took office, immigration arrests were just over 8,000, primarily involving immigrants transferred from local jails to ICE. During Trump's first year, arrests began to rise as the administration relaxed restrictions on ICE operations and allocated additional funding to the agency.
By December of that year, arrests had increased to over 40,177. Following two fatal shootings in Minnesota in January that led to protests, arrests fell to nearly 30,000 in February. However, the numbers rebounded to over 43,000 in June and approximately 49,500 in July.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, in his confirmation hearing earlier this year, indicated a desire to keep ICE out of the headlines, suggesting a potential softening of the administration's immigration enforcement approach. However, the recent figures suggest that the agency remains aligned with President Trump's mass deportation strategy.
Texas and Florida accounted for nearly 20,000 of the July arrests, highlighting the significance of these states to the administration's deportation agenda. Both states have engaged in 287g agreements, allowing local law enforcement to act as extensions of federal immigration enforcement.
The increase in arrests coincides with the agency's receipt of billions of dollars in funding from Congress last summer, which has enabled the hiring of 12,000 new deportation officers and investigative agents.