ICE Arrests Hit Nearly 50,000 in July, a Record for Trump Term

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 50,000 people in July, the highest single monthly total of President Donald Trump's second term, according to government data obtained by the University of California, Berkeley's Deportation Data Project and analyzed by The Associated Press.

The July tally of 49,571 arrests marked a 15% increase from the 43,021 arrests recorded in June and a 70% jump from the 29,241 arrests in February, which came in the aftermath of an ICE enforcement surge in Minnesota.

The rising numbers show the administration has continued pushing its mass deportation agenda even after shifting away from high-profile operations in large cities earlier this year following public backlash. The current approach has drawn less attention but has still proven disruptive, according to the data.

Immigration arrests stood at just over 8,000 the month before Trump took office, a figure largely made up of immigrants transferred to ICE from city or state jails. The numbers climbed steadily through Trump's first year as the administration loosened restrictions on where and who ICE could arrest and gave the agency billions of dollars in additional funding. By December, monthly arrests had reached more than 40,177.

Arrests fell to nearly 30,000 in February after two fatal shootings in Minnesota that January sparked protests and criticism from Democratic lawmakers. After months of relatively stagnant numbers, arrests jumped to more than 43,000 in June and roughly 49,500 in July.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had pledged during his confirmation hearing to keep ICE out of the headlines, suggesting a softer approach to immigration enforcement. But his tenure has included several fatal shootings of immigrants during encounters with ICE officers, and the new figures show he has not shifted the agency away from Trump's mass deportation vision.

Texas and Florida together accounted for nearly 20,000 of July's arrests, reflecting how central those states have become to the administration's deportation efforts. Both states have leaned heavily on 287(g) agreements, which allow local and state law enforcement to act as arms of federal immigration enforcement.

The spike in arrests comes as ICE, having received billions of dollars from Congress last summer, has also hired 12,000 new deportation officers and investigative agents.