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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested about 10,000 people over a five-day period at the end of June, marking a sharp escalation in enforcement as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
The figures, obtained by The Associated Press from a person familiar with the data who was not authorized to speak publicly, reflect a significant increase in arrests despite a shift away from highly visible enforcement operations in major cities.
The five-day total — spanning Friday through Tuesday — averages roughly 2,000 arrests per day nationwide. The specific locations of those arrests were not immediately clear.
The surge suggests enforcement activity is intensifying even as federal authorities move away from high-profile crackdowns in individual cities and adopt a more low-profile approach.
“Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump’s promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members and terrorists,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “Our message is clear: If you come to our country illegally, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you.”
The spike comes as the number of people held in ICE detention facilities rose to approximately 39,000 in June, up from about 30,000 per month since February, according to data obtained by the AP.
ICE does not routinely release detailed arrest figures, making direct comparisons difficult. However, data provided to the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the AP shows the recent pace far exceeds earlier months.
In December, the highest month for arrests during the current administration, ICE averaged about 1,283 arrests per day. In January, during a large-scale enforcement operation in Minneapolis and surrounding areas, arrests averaged roughly 1,212 per day nationwide.
That Minneapolis operation became a turning point after two U.S. citizens were killed during protests tied to the enforcement surge. Federal officials later scaled back highly visible operations, and enforcement tactics shifted toward less public-facing strategies.
Arrests dropped to about 1,057 per day in February, according to Deportation Data Project figures, which are based on records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and are current through that month.
Following leadership changes at the Department of Homeland Security, officials indicated they would pursue a quieter enforcement strategy while continuing to carry out the administration’s immigration priorities.
The late-June spike was first reported by The New York Times.
