Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded 49,571 arrests in July, according to recently released government data provided to the Deportation Data Project at U.C. Berkeley and UCLA. This figure represents a 15% increase over the 43,021 arrests recorded in June and marks the highest monthly total of President Trump’s second term. The July data averages to approximately 1,599 apprehensions per day.
The uptick follows the March appointment of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who succeeded Kristi Noem. While Noem's tenure included high-profile enforcement actions such as Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis—an event that resulted in the deaths of two U.S. citizens—Mullin has stated a goal of meeting administration deportation targets while reducing public visibility. Graeme Blair, co-director of the Deportation Data Project, attributed the rise to expanded enforcement at airports, ICE check-ins, and immigration courthouses.
The July figures also include the first wave of arrests involving Haitian immigrants following the revocation of their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that same month. Four states—Texas, Florida, California, and Georgia—accounted for more than half of the nearly 50,000 arrests. Officials noted that enforcement has been supported by billions of dollars in congressional funding and the hiring of thousands of new ICE officers.
The scale of these operations is tied to significant federal spending and personnel increases. The reported billions in congressional funding for ICE and Border Patrol, combined with the hiring of thousands of new officers, suggests a long-term increase in the capacity of the federal government to conduct domestic apprehensions. For many affected individuals, these arrests at airports and courthouses represent a concrete change in how and where they might interact with federal agents. The shift toward less public but more frequent arrests indicates a change in operational tactics under the current Department of Homeland Security leadership.
This surge sets a precedent for how the administration utilizes inter-agency cooperation through the 287(g) program and how it handles the revocation of protected status for specific groups. The increase in arrests suggests that the administrative transition to Secretary Mullin has resulted in higher volume enforcement even as high-profile raids have been reduced. As the administration continues its stated deportation goals, the next indicators of this policy's trajectory will be the release of arrest data for August and September, as well as the implementation of reported plans to revoke up to 200,000 foreign visas.
The 287(g) program is a provision of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act that allows the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies. Under these agreements, designated officers receive training and oversight from ICE to perform specific immigration law functions within their jurisdictions. In states like Florida, where every county jail is now compliant with these agreements, the program functions as a primary bridge between local detention and federal immigration processing.