ICE Arrests 10,000 Migrants in Five-Day Deportation Surge

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained more than 10,000 people during a five-day period ending June 30, 2026. Following a White House directive, the agency established a new enforcement standard of 2,000 arrests per day, a sharp increase from the 1,000 daily arrests recorded earlier in the year and a peak average of 1,283 in December.

Under Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, the administration shifted away from high-profile city raids—such as those in Minneapolis that resulted in two American deaths during the tenure of former Secretary Kristi Noem—toward quieter enforcement. Agents are now conducting arrests during traffic stops, routine check-ins, and street encounters. Recent operations included a manufacturing plant raid in Birmingham, Alabama, targeting identity fraud. The surge follows Supreme Court rulings expanding presidential power over immigration and the revocation of Temporary Protected Status for citizens of Haiti and Syria.

To sustain this pace, 80% of officers are focused on arrest operations, with many working seven days a week. This has pushed the ICE detention population to approximately 39,000 in June, up from 30,000 in February. While the Department of Homeland Security asserts that the operations target criminal illegal aliens, federal data indicates that two out of three at-large arrests this year involved individuals with no criminal record. The crackdown has faced bipartisan criticism following the arrest of a Nigerian nun in Texas and several arrests at Manhattan immigration courthouses that allegedly violated court orders.