U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 49,571 people in July, the highest single-month total since President Donald Trump began his second term, according to government data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and analysed by The Associated Press in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley's Deportation Data Project. The figure represents a 15% increase from June's 43,021 arrests and a 70% jump from February's 29,241, underscoring a sustained and accelerating push to carry out mass deportations across the country.
The trajectory of arrests over the past year reflects both the administration's ambitions and the political turbulence surrounding its enforcement strategy. When Trump returned to office, monthly immigration arrests stood at roughly 8,000 to 10,000 — a figure that included migrants transferred from local and state jails to federal custody. As Congress injected billions of dollars into the agency and restrictions on where and whom ICE could detain were loosened, the numbers climbed steadily, reaching over 40,000 by December 2025. A temporary dip followed in early 2026, after two fatal shootings during enforcement operations in Minnesota — a state in the upper Midwest — triggered public protests and fierce criticism from Democratic lawmakers. Arrests fell to around 30,000 in February before stagnating for several months, then surging again in June and July.
More than half of those detained in July had no prior criminal record, a figure that has drawn particular criticism from immigration advocates. Despite Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's pledge earlier this year to keep ICE out of the headlines — signalling a potentially quieter approach — the agency has continued to expand its reach, hiring 12,000 new deportation officers and investigative agents. The shift in tactics has moved away from high-profile operations in major cities, which generated widespread outcry, toward operations that attract less public scrutiny but remain deeply disruptive to affected communities.
Texas and Florida together accounted for nearly 20,000 of July's arrests, reflecting the outsized role both states play in the administration's deportation agenda. Both states have entered into so-called 287(g) agreements with ICE — cooperative arrangements under which local and state law enforcement agencies act as extensions of federal immigration enforcement, significantly expanding the operational reach of the federal agency.
The record July figures matter because they signal that the administration's mass deportation programme is not slowing, even as legal challenges, fatal incidents during operations, and political opposition continue to mount. With 12,000 new agents now being absorbed into the agency and federal funding secured, enforcement capacity is unlikely to diminish in the near term — raising questions about the long-term social and legal consequences for millions of undocumented people living in the United States.