Homan Now Calls for 7,000 Daily ICE Arrests, More Than Double Stephen Miller's Latest Target

Thomas Homan, President Trump's "border czar," has called for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest 7,000 undocumented immigrants per day, more than double the current target recently set by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller (3,000) and far above present enforcement levels.

"We have to arrest 7,000 every single day for the remainder of this administration just to catch the ones Biden released into the nation," Homan told reporters outside the White House on Monday, describing the figure not as an aspiration, but a necessary corrective. "And for those that say 3,000 a day is too much, I want to remind them: do the math."

The 3,000 target had been set by Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a well-documented meeting on May 21 at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in Washington D.C. During the same meeting, Miller reportedly threatened to fire 10% of ICE field office leaders with the least amount of monthly migrant arrests

Homan's push follows the passing of Trump's "big, beautiful" bill on July 4, which allocates $165 billion to the Department of Homeland Security and will allow ICE to hire 10,000 agents and expand detention capacity to 100,000 beds, as The New York Post points out. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the news site that the law would "turbocharge" enforcement efforts.

Recent data, however, shows ICE is still far from meeting even the earlier internal goal of 3,000 arrests. According to a Washington Post analysis published on Thursday, internal ICE data reveals that daily arrests averaged just under 1,000 between May 20 and June 11—well short of Miller's directive.

Despite calls from senior officials to prioritize those with serious criminal records, arrests of non-criminal migrants have increased, the analysis also revealed. While the agency claims 75% of arrestees have criminal records, the ICE data analyzed by The Post suggests that a majority of those arrested since January 20 had no criminal conviction. The share of detainees with criminal convictions dropped from 46% in January to 30% in June.