Jul 18, 2025 - News

ICE arrests of noncriminals have skyrocketed in San Diego

A line chart showing monthly ICE arrests in the San Diego Field Office region by reported criminal status, from January to June 2025. In January, ICE arrested 146 people in the area, of which 36% did not have a criminal charge. By June, 72% of the 591 people ICE arrested did not have a criminal charge. — Data: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via UC Berkeley; Note: Arrests were counted even if they did not lead to detainment; multiple arrests of the same individual were counted separately; Chart: Axios Visuals

ICE arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions in San Diego soared in June, per data compiled by the Deportation Data Project.

Why it matters: The surge follows a national trend that coincides with the Trump administration's decision on May 21 to triple ICE's arrest quota.

By the numbers: In January, ICE agents arrested 146 people in the San Diego Field Office region.

As of June 26 — the most recent data available — the monthly arrest figure had more than quadrupled, to 591.

Between the lines: But the share of people in San Diego arrested by ICE who had no criminal charges or convictions flipped during that time.

In January, 64% of ICE arrestees had a criminal charge or conviction.
In June, 72% of ICE arrestees had no criminal charges or convictions.

The big picture: Nationwide, people without criminal charges or convictions made up an average of 47% of daily ICE arrests in early June, up from about 21% in early May, before the quota increase.

A line chart showing daily arrests by ICE from January 7 to June 26, 2025 as a seven-day trailing average. Before the daily arrest quota was tripled on May 21, people with no criminal charges or convictions accounted for about 21% of daily arrests. After the change, the share spiked to 47%. As of June 26, ICE reported an average of 930 arrests per day, about 42% of which were people with no criminal record. — Data: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via UC Berkeley; Note: Arrests were counted even if they did not lead to detainment; multiple arrests of the same individual were counted separately; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

Zoom out: Total ICE arrests in the San Diego region increased more than 400% in the first six months of 2025, compared with the previous year, based on a Union-Tribune analysis of Deportation Data Project figures.

That's 1,339 arrests this year compared with 325 last year.

What they're saying: "The media continues to peddle this FALSE narrative that ICE is not targeting criminal illegal aliens," Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement emailed to Axios.

"The official data tells the true story: 70% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges."
A DHS spokesperson did not answer Axios' follow-up question about the origins of the 70% figure.

The bottom line: The Trump administration is casting a far wider net than initially promised — and San Diego is seeing an especially stark disparity in who is being arrested by ICE.

Go deeper: Noncriminal ICE arrests spiked in June

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ICE arrests of noncriminals have skyrocketed in San Diego

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