ICE arrests jumped to nearly 50,000 in July, the highest monthly total of Trump’s second term

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 50,000 individuals during July 2022, marking the highest single-month arrest total during the second Trump administration, according to recent data. This significant increase comes despite a shift in the administration's approach earlier in the year, moving away from high-profile operations in major U.S. cities to more discreet arrests that have received less public attention but have still caused disruption.

The July arrest total of 49,571 represents a 15% rise from 43,021 arrests in the previous month and a 70% increase from the 29,241 arrests recorded in February following the Trump administration's enforcement surge in Minnesota.

The figures, provided by ICE to the University of California, Berkeley's Deportation Data Project and analyzed by The Associated Press, show a stark contrast to the approximately 8,000 immigration arrests that occurred just before Trump assumed office, primarily involving individuals transferred from city or state jails and prisons, subsequently handed over to ICE for deportation.

During the first year of Trump's presidency, the number of arrests gradually increased as the administration relaxed restrictions on where and who could be arrested, while simultaneously allocating billions of dollars to the agency. By December 2021, the number of arrests had surged to over 40,177.

Following two fatal shootings in Minnesota in January that triggered protests and criticism from Democratic lawmakers, arrests dropped to nearly 30,000 in February. After remaining relatively stable for several months, the numbers of arrests surged in June, reaching more than 43,000, and then reached roughly 49,500 in July. Although Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin pledged to keep ICE out of the headlines and suggested a softer approach to immigration enforcement during his confirmation hearing, Mullin's tenure has been marked by fatal shootings of immigrants during encounters with ICE officers.

The data, however, clearly demonstrates that Mullin has not strayed from President Donald Trump's vision of mass deportations.

Texas and Florida together accounted for nearly 20,000 of the arrests in July, highlighting the importance of these states to the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda. Both states have heavily engaged in cooperation agreements with ICE, known as 287(g) agreements, allowing local and state law enforcement to essentially act as arms of federal immigration enforcement.

This surge in arrests follows a substantial increase in funding for the agency, with Congress infusing billions of dollars last summer, resulting in the hiring of an additional 12,000 deportation officers and investigative agents.