ICE arrests soar to record 49,571 in July as Trump intensifies immigration crackdown

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded 49,571 arrests in July, its highest monthly total since Donald Trump returned to the White House, new government data has shown.

The figure was 15 per cent higher than the 43,021 arrests recorded in June and 70 per cent above the 29,241 arrests reported in February.

ICE supplied the data to the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project, with The Associated Press analysing the figures. The data points to the continued expansion of the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration enforcement efforts.

The record July figure came despite a shift away from large, highly visible immigration raids in major cities earlier this year. The change followed widespread protests and criticism over the administration’s enforcement operations.

Rather than relying as heavily on high-profile operations, ICE has increasingly carried out arrests that receive less public attention but continue to have an impact on immigrant communities throughout the country.

ICE was making just over 8,000 arrests a month before Trump assumed office in January. Those arrests were largely made up of immigrants transferred into federal custody after being detained in state or local jails and prisons.

The number of arrests increased after the administration loosened restrictions on the individuals and locations ICE could target and secured additional funding for the agency.

Government records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit showed that ICE arrests had climbed above 40,000 by December.

The number fell to roughly 29,000 in February following an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota that led to protests and condemnation from Democratic lawmakers.

The downward trend did not last. ICE arrested more than 43,000 people in June, followed by the record 49,571 arrests in July.

Texas and Florida alone accounted for almost 20,000 of those July arrests, reinforcing the importance of the two states to the administration’s deportation strategy.

Both states have expanded their collaboration with ICE under 287(g) agreements. The arrangements permit participating state and local law enforcement agencies to assist federal authorities in carrying out immigration enforcement.

The increase in arrests has also coincided with billions of dollars in additional funding approved by Congress for ICE. The agency is now expanding its workforce and plans to hire about 12,000 deportation officers and investigative agents.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had earlier promised to keep ICE out of the headlines, signalling an intention to pursue immigration enforcement in a less publicly confrontational manner.

Despite that approach, the latest figures show that the administration’s broader mass-deportation campaign remains firmly underway, with enforcement continuing at record levels even as operations have become less visible.

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