ICE arrests decline amid backlash to June immigration raids
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Federal agents detain a woman after a hearing in immigration court in New York City last week. Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Arrests by U.S. immigration agents dropped by nearly 20% in July, amid the backlash to President Trump's push to dramatically boost the number of detentions, according to new data that the Trump administration disputes.
Why it matters: The decline followed protests over the waves of raids by masked immigration agents in June — particularly in Southern California — that led to court orders that have hindered some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, at least for now.
- Another factor in the falling arrest numbers: Trump's own flip-flop on whether to pause raids targeting the agriculture and hospitality industries.
- Meanwhile, removals of immigrants from the U.S. rose in July to an average of 84 more per day compared to June. NBC News reported that more than 18,000 immigrants were removed in June.
By the numbers: ICE agents booked an average of 990 arrests per day from July 1 to July 27, according to data collected by the nonpartisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).
- That was down from an average of 1,224 daily arrests in June — and well short of senior White House adviser Stephen Miller's stated goal of at least 3,000 immigration arrests per day.
The Trump administration appears to have backed off that goal — at least in court.
- In a case challenging expedited removals of immigrants, a Justice Department attorney told the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week that ICE leadership hasn't been directed to meet any numerical quota for arrests, Politico first reported.
- The 56,945 people currently in ICE custody also mark a slight decrease from the 57,861 detainees reported four weeks earlier, according to the TRAC data.
State of play: The stepped-up campaign of raids that began in June — dubbed the "Summer of ICE" by immigration activists — generated protests across the nation.
- The raids, in which masked agents in plain clothes swept into communities to make arrests, left many immigrants no choice but to abandon their children, their vehicles, work tools and family dogs and cats.
- U.S. citizens — many of them Latinos — reported being detained for various periods by immigration agents in what critics say were instances of racial profiling and overzealous policing.
Last month, immigrant advocacy groups filed a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of deliberately targeting brown-skinned individuals in Southern California as part of its crackdown.
- A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court's order halting many of the tactics the administration has been using in immigration stops and arrests in Southern California.
What they're saying: The Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed to Axios that arrests were down in July but said they were only down 10% — from 31,000 in June to 27,000.
- "Despite a historic number of injunctions — including the (temporary restraining order) in Los Angeles — ICE continues to arrest the worst of the worst," McLaughlin said.
- "From gang members and terrorists to pedophiles, everyday ICE is removing these barbaric criminal illegal aliens from American communities. Secretary [Kristi] Noem has been clear: nothing will stop us from carrying out the President and American people's mandate to carry out the largest deportation of criminal illegal aliens in American history."
Zoom out: As of July 27, about 71% of those in ICE detention hadn't been convicted of a crime. Many of those with convictions had been charged with minor offenses such as traffic violations, TRAC found.
