The latest figures show that arrests by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in July reached nearly 50,000, the highest monthly number.
In July, ICE made 49,571 arrests, which is 15% more than the 43,021 arrests in June, and 70% more than the 29,241 arrests in February. The Center for Immigration Studies’ Mark Krikorian stated that the administration “did not stop enforcement” and “changed its tactics and is, if anything, being more effective.”
The rise in the number of arrests is attributable both to stricter immigration restrictions and to partnership programmes that ICE has developed thanks to generous financial incentives for participating agencies.
The data shows 6,500 arrests were made through these programmes – accounting for around 13% of the total – while roughly 20,000 arrests were made in Texas and Florida.
Recently, there has been a sharp surge in the detention of immigrants in the US due to the Trump administration’s shift to a new phase of its mass deportation programme, whereby agencies have begun to employ covert, targeted enforcement methods, moving away from large-scale operations in major cities.
A contributing factor to the upsurge in arrests has been the ICE workforce expansion, with officers often carrying out arrests during routine roadside checks of drivers; meanwhile, the agency itself has become much more active in enlisting the resources of local and regional law enforcement agencies for its operations. In addition, arrests have begun to be made of Haitians who have been stripped of protection from deportation.
Despite government claims that these arrests target people who have committed crimes on US soil as part of efforts to improve public safety, the data shows that more than half of those arrested in July had no criminal record and were not under investigation.
The latest figures are the highest recorded during Trump’s entire second presidential term, marking an increase of nearly six figures in the number of arrests. One month before his return to the Oval Office, the number of immigrant arrests stood at some 8,000.
