The Trump administration is looking to deport as many as 1 million migrants this year as it ramps up enforcement operations across the country. As the White House scrambles to meet that goal, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests have increased in the past days, and detention centers remain at capacity.
The number of migrants at an ICE detention in the U.S. currently stands at 51,302, 30% more than when Trump took office in late January 2025, according to Noticias Telemundo. That number, however, is expected to increase after the Department of Homeland Security reported that it arrested over 2,000 people on different days of the week. ICE only has enough funding to detain 41,500 detainees at a time.
During the last two weeks of May, 15,020 people were admitted to these centers. This figure represents people arrested by ICE or Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Likewise, as of last Friday, ICE data showed that 28,797 people were detained in centers during the month of May, the highest number since the start of the second Trump administration.
Of those detained by ICE, 56% (28,864) have a criminal record, which means that they have either been convicted of a crime or have pending criminal charges. The remainder (22,438) have no criminal record, the outlet noted.
ICE's ramped up arrests have been celebrated by the agency and Trump loyalists. The increase follows a new tactic adopted by the group: arresting people who had been enrolled in ICE's Alternative to Detention (ATD) program. Under the program, ICE releases undocumented immigrants who are deemed not to be threats to public safety and then keeps track of them through ankle monitors, smartphone apps or other geolocating programs, along with periodic check-ins at ICE facilities, according to NBC News. However, now they are being targeted.
"With mass arresting of people on alternatives to detention or at their ICE check-ins or at immigration court hearings, the dragnet is so wide that there's no possible valid argument that could be made that these individuals are all dangerous," Atenas Burrola Estrada, an attorney with the Amica Center for Human Rights, told NBC News.
The Guardian also reported that on Saturday, senior ICE officials urged officers to "turn the creative knob up to 11" when it comes to enforcement, including by arresting undocumented people whom officials may happen to encounter, while serving arrest warrants for others.
The recent arrests also come amid pressures from the White House to meet daily quotas. Last month, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, threatened in a meeting with ICE leadership to fire senior officials if the agency did not start making 3,000 arrests per day, according to NBC News.
The uptick has sparked rage and confusion among many pro-immigration activists and private citizens. Most notably, the streets of Los Angeles were filled with tens of thousands of protesters last weekend who opposed ICE's mass deportation tactics. There, some 56 people were arrested as some 700 marines and more than 2,000 National Guard troops were deployed by Trump to shut down the demonstrations. Now, a series of coast-to-coast protests called "No Kings" are planned nationwide for Saturday.
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