Record ICE Arrests This Summer Have No Criminal History

In July 2026, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service, known as ICE, carried out approximately 49,571 migrant arrests, the highest monthly figure of Trump’s second term. For the first time, more than half of those detentions involved people without convictions or pending criminal charges, according to federal data analyzed by The Associated Press and The New York Times. The proportion of those arrested with violent crime records fell below 4%, while the government expanded the use of local agreements known as 287(g).

This shift reflects a change in immigration enforcement strategy, now prioritizing people with expired legal status, pending immigration cases, or revoked humanitarian protections. «Community» arrests and deportations to third countries also reached record levels that month.

How many ICE arrests were recorded in July 2026?

ICE carried out approximately 49,571 arrests in July 2026, according to figures provided to the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley. This figure represents the highest during Trump’s second term, as confirmed by The Associated Press.

For the first time, more than half of those arrests involved people without convictions or pending criminal charges. Fewer than one-quarter of those detained had prior criminal convictions, according to the same analysis.

The month before Trump’s inauguration, in January 2025, migrant arrests hovered around 8,000 monthly. The majority of those cases involved people transferred from local or state prisons, according to Euronews.

The increase coincides with an internal White House goal of reaching 2,000 daily arrests, according to reports by CBS News. Texas, Florida, California, and Georgia accounted for more than half of the total national arrests that month.

Why did the profile of people detained by ICE change?

The change reflects a shift in immigration enforcement strategy during 2026. Rather than prioritizing people with criminal records, ICE expanded its focus toward those facing pending immigration cases or who lost their legal status.

Among affected groups are asylum seekers, spouses of U.S. citizens caught in immigration proceedings, and people whose Temporary Protected Status, known as TPS, was revoked. These individuals became more accessible targets for arrest and deportation, according to analysis by The Independent.