Daily ICE arrests are topping 1,000. But the majority aren’t in cities Trump targeted with high-profile surges
Immigration officers have arrested an average of more than 1,000 people a day within the first months of 2026, nearly double the average number of arrests per day at roughly the same point last year, according to a new analysis.
Despite high-profile surges of federal agents into Democratic-led states and cities, arrests in those areas have largely fallen flat, while arrests in states such as Texas and Florida have spiked, according to a review of arrest data from The New York Times.
Trump’s push into Minnesota, led by former Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino, has faced an onslaught of lawsuits and allegations accusing agents of brutalizing protesters and immigrants alike.
While arrest data shows a stunning number of 5,000 arrests in the Minneapolis area from December through March, agents from four other Immigration and Customs Enforcement field offices in southern states arrested thousands of others within the period.
Agents in the Miami area reported making nearly 10,000 arrests in that same time frame, the review found.
But roughly half of all reported arrests were “custodial” arrests, where ICE picks up someone who is already in law enforcement custody, despite the administration’s rhetoric suggesting violent immigrants are roaming free on city streets.
An earlier analysis discovered there were roughly 11 percent fewer immigration arrests in February, though arrest levels were still nearly four times higher than those under Joe Biden’s administration.
The data follows the administration’s months-long efforts to arrest, detain and deport tens of thousands of people to support the president’s vast anti-immigration agenda, which Trump promised throughout his campaign would amount to the “largest deportation operation” in American history, targeting more than 9 million people.
Homeland Security reported as many as 675,000 deportations in 2025, while nearly 70,000 people are in ICE detention on any given day in facilities across the country. A vast majority have not been convicted of any crimes.
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and an architect of Trump’s anti-immigration agenda, announced last year that DHS was setting “a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day.”
An internal document viewed by The New York Times suggests ICE has identified seven million the agency believes can be deported but who are not currently in detention.
Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the Department of Justice have denied that such a quota exists, despite Miller’s public statements.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin — Trump’s pick to replace Noem, who was fired earlier this month — said this week that “no quota has been set” for his term as DHS chief.
“The president of the United States sets the policies, and I’ll be working with the president,” he said during his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday. “If you have a question for Stephen Miller, please ask him.”
