ICE reports nearly 50,000 arrests in July, highest monthly total in second Trump term
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recorded 49,571 arrests in July, a 15% rise from June and the largest monthly figure since the administration’s return in 2017.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported 49,571 arrests in July, marking a 15% increase from the previous month and the highest single-month total since the agency’s resurgence under the second Trump administration. The figure represents a 70% rise compared with February, when arrests numbered 29,241, according to data supplied by ICE to the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the Associated Press.
The surge follows a hiring expansion and a shift toward arrests made during traffic stops and in partnership with state and local law-enforcement agencies. In July, about 6,500 arrests—roughly 13% of the total—were carried out by local police under 287(g) agreements, up from less than 5% a year earlier. Texas and Florida together accounted for nearly 20,000 of the July arrests.
"The administration didn’t stop the enforcement," Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies said, adding that the agency had "changed the tactics and are, if anything, being more effective."
A case in Florida’s Key West highlighted the local cooperation model: a Haitian asylum seeker employed at a restaurant was detained by police and transferred to ICE, according to the establishment’s manager, Bobby Kuchinsky.
"He was an excellent worker, he learned very fast, he never had any problem with the law," Kuchinsky said, noting the difficulty of replacing him.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who pledged a lower-profile approach during his confirmation hearing, has overseen the continued rise in arrests. The data show that more than half of those detained in July had no criminal convictions, and less than a quarter had been convicted of a crime. Approximately half of the arrests were non-custodial, meaning individuals were taken into custody directly from the community rather than from existing jail or police custody.
Journalist Patricia Quiñonez observed that traffic-stop arrests have increased sharply, with officers often using minor violations as a pretext to inquire about immigration status. She noted that individuals with valid work permits and pending asylum claims are among those detained.