US immigration authorities are once again increasing arrests across the country, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents now making more than 1,400 arrests a day.
ICE agents made 16,213 arrests in the first 11 days of July, according to federal records. That works out to an average of more than 1,400 arrests each day.
The increase comes after ICE made more than 1,300 arrests a day on average in June. The agency made almost 40,000 arrests that month, the highest monthly total during President Donald Trump‘s second term.
The rise in arrests comes as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin increases immigration enforcement following a brief slowdown in the spring.
Immigration crackdown picks up pace
Mullin has moved away from large, concentrated immigration operations like those carried out in Los Angeles and Minneapolis. Those operations came under intense criticism after immigration agents shot and killed two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in January.
The new approach is more spread out across the country. But it has also led to more deadly incidents.
This month, federal authorities shot and killed two immigrant men, one in Houston and another in Maine. “It all adds up to even more than they were doing before,” David Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, told Bloomberg.
“We are seeing behaviour that is demonstrably similar to what we saw in Los Angeles, in Chicago and Minneapolis. But it’s diffuse and popping up in Maine at the same time they are popping up in Houston.”
ICE arrests are rising again
The January shootings led to protests across the US. Democratic lawmakers and immigrant-rights groups criticised indiscriminate arrests and cases where agents had mistaken people’s identities.
The incidents also led to a major fight in Congress over funding for ICE. The agency later reduced its operations in the Minneapolis area.
ICE has not carried out another large-scale operation in a single city since then. However, the latest shootings have brought fresh criticism of ICE and the Trump administration’s wider immigration crackdown.
The government has defended the shootings, saying they were necessary to protect immigration officers and the public. Mullin briefly ordered ICE to stop vehicle stops, but President Trump later overruled the decision.
Arrest numbers still below Trump’s target
Although arrests have risen sharply in recent weeks, the pace is still far below Trump’s goal of more than 1 million arrests and deportations every year.
Immigration hardliners are calling for the numbers to go even higher. “The numbers should be through the roof,” said Mike Howell, a visiting fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Howell publicly criticised the Trump administration last year over what he called “fake” deportation statistics.
“It needs to be two commas by now in the removal numbers,” he said.
Howell has also called on immigration officials to increase enforcement at workplaces. He and others have argued that jobs are a major reason for illegal immigration and that stronger workplace enforcement could help reduce it.
ICE gets more agents
The number of ICE agents has also grown following a major hiring drive.
The hiring was funded by a large Republican-backed spending bill passed last year. The increase in staff has helped the agency step up its immigration enforcement operations.
One person who was briefed on the latest arrest operations described the effort as “high tempo, high output.”
Mullin has repeatedly defended ICE’s actions and warned people who are in the country illegally to leave on their own.
“Our #1 goal is to keep our officers safe and get criminals OFF our streets,” Mullin wrote earlier this month in a post on X. “Illegal aliens will be arrested and deported wherever they are.”
