ICE On Pace For 1 Million Migrant Arrests In Four Years As GOP Eyes More Funding
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is projected to detain nearly one million undocumented immigrants by the end of the Trump administration—a substantial figure, though still falling short of President Donald Trump’s stated objective, according to a report this week.
This development arises as Republican lawmakers in both chambers push for measures addressing border security, deportation, and additional financial resources in an upcoming spending proposal. If approved, these provisions could lead to a considerable rise in ICE arrests, Just the News reported.
While the Trump administration continues advancing its mass deportation agenda, the federal agency tasked with apprehending and deporting undocumented immigrants, U.S. ICE, has halted the publication of daily arrest and detainer statistics. Despite this, border czar Tom Homan insists that enforcement efforts remain on course, even amid leaks and opposition, the outlet reported.
Prior to February 1, ICE consistently updated the public on its daily arrest and detainer counts across the country. However, this practice ceased earlier in the week on its X account, which now primarily showcases the apprehension of high-profile criminal figures.
The agency’s latest enforcement summary, dated January 31, disclosed 864 arrests and 621 detainers. The initial report in this series, released on January 23, indicated 538 arrests, with daily apprehensions peaking at 1,179 on January 27. Despite the change in reporting methods, Homan reassured that ICE’s operations continue at full strength, with no decline in arrest numbers, Just the News added.
“I think the arrest numbers I looked at, I just talked about this morning. I think the arrests are right around over 11,000 so far since day one,” Homan informed reporters on Thursday.
Excluding Thursday’s figures and starting from January 20, the tally of 11,000 arrests suggests an average of roughly 650 per day. Should this trend persist, Trump would be poised to oversee nearly one million arrests of undocumented immigrants for the remainder of his term.
However, the president has set his sights on a significantly higher goal—deporting up to 20 times that amount. Encouragingly for Trump, the latter part of his first 10 days in office has shown a marked acceleration in arrest rates. Additionally, ICE benefits from a declining number of daily border apprehensions due to fewer crossings, Just the News noted further.
“I mean yesterday, at 24 hours, it was less than 50 border arrests. It wasn’t too long ago we had 11,000 arrests a day under the Biden administration. We got less than 500,” Homan remarked.
He had previously predicted that while initial arrests and deportations would be modest, they would ramp up significantly as the administration established the necessary infrastructure for large-scale operations. Even within the first two weeks of Trump’s strategy, this trend appears to be materializing, the outlet observed.
Nevertheless, Homan faces hurdles, including capacity constraints and leaks that are jeopardizing specific enforcement efforts. This challenge was prevalent during Trump’s previous administration, particularly when former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s office experienced multiple leaks, notably from Miles Taylor, also known as “anonymous.”
Some internal actors seem misaligned with the Trump administration’s deportation drive. On Thursday, Homan confirmed that ICE’s planned raid on apartment buildings in Aurora, Colo., had been compromised due to a leak. As a result, ICE agents encountered vacant units and demonstrators at the scene, Just the News reported.
Aurora had gained national attention during the 2024 presidential campaign due to reports that Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken control of several apartment complexes in the city.
“We’ve already identified how this operation got leaked. I’ll deal with that today,” he told Fox News. “To have this type of interference puts the officers at great risk.”
He also indicated that ICE might restrict media access to its operations to prevent sensitive information from reaching potential targets.
“We’ve invited numerous media outlets along, but right now it’s all about [OPSEC] operational security, so we may have to stop the media ride-alongs because I’m not pointing the finger at [them], but the less people that know about these operations, the safer it is for our agents,” he stated to reporters. “So we’re looking at that right now.”