Data: ICE Arrests Surged in July

Arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rose in July, reaching the highest level so far during Donald Trump’s second presidency.

Significant Increase in Arrests

According to ICE data provided to the Deportation Data Project, ICE arrests surpassed 49,000 in July, a 15-percent increase from about 43,000 arrests in June and a 70-percent increase from about 29,000 arrests in February. When Trump assumed office in January 2025, ICE maintained fewer than 10,000 arrests monthly. Although arrests fell noticeably at the beginning of 2026, that decline appears to have been temporary, and the agency has since ramped up arrests.

This increase has been attributed in part to more ICE agents — 29,000 in June versus only 21,000 in January 2025 — as well as the Trump administration’s expansion of the 287(g) program that deputizes participating local law-enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws. Demonstrating the latter reason, nearly 20,000 arrests in July occurred just in Florida and Texas, two states that have participated heavily in the 287(g) program.

Mainstream-media outlets misleadingly claimed that a significant portion of the illegal aliens arrested were “noncriminal,” overlooking the fact that illegal migration is a federal crime. In fact, of those arrested since January 2025, a majority had committed crimes in addition to entering the United States illegally.

Additional Administration Actions

This data comes amid new Trump administration actions to rein in mass legal immigration, including revoking thousands of business and tourism visas and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services restarting neighborhood investigations for applicants for U.S. citizenship.

Additionally, the administration appears to be stepping up deportations. For example, The New York Times reported that at least 329 deportation flights, a record number, occurred in July. Additionally, officials plan to expand these flights to Haiti, and have already deported an increasing number of Mexican citizens to third countries.

States Must Reclaim Their Authority

Although these actions are certainly positive, they are merely first steps toward ending mass migration into the United States. And unless Congress enacts watertight immigration laws and rescinds its unconstitutional delegation of power to the executive branch, Trump’s actions will endure only until the next Democratic administration.

Additionally, state governments must reclaim their sovereign authority over immigration, and should avoid initiatives that subordinate local law enforcement to federal agencies. The federal government has no authority under the U.S. Constitution to engage in interior law enforcement. Instead of subserviently obeying the federal government, the states should reassert the authority they lawfully have. Patriotic Americans must continue pressing for constitutional, pro-American immigration policies.

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