Arrests by U.S. immigration agents dropped by nearly 20% in July, amid the backlash to President Trump’s push to dramatically boost the number of detentions, according to new data that the Trump administration disputes.
The decline followed protests over the waves of raids by masked immigration agents in June — particularly in Southern California — that led to court orders that have hindered some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, at least for now.
Another factor in the falling arrest numbers: Trump’s own flip-flop on whether to pause raids targeting the agriculture and hospitality industries.
Meanwhile, removals of immigrants from the U.S. rose in July to an average of 84 more per day compared to June. NBC News reported that more than 18,000 immigrants were removed in June.
ICE agents booked an average of 990 arrests per day from July 1 to July 27, according to data collected by the nonpartisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).
That was down from an average of 1,224 daily arrests in June — and well short of senior White House adviser Stephen Miller’s stated goal of at least 3,000 immigration arrests per day.
The Trump administration appears to have backed off that goal — at least in court.
In a case challenging expedited removals of immigrants, a Justice Department attorney told the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week that ICE leadership hasn’t been directed to meet any numerical quota for arrests, Politico first reported.
The 56,945 people currently in ICE custody also mark a slight decrease from the 57,861 detainees reported four weeks earlier, according to the TRAC data.
