ICE Hits Record 49,571 Arrests in July—Highest Monthly Total of Trump’s Second Term

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 49,571 people in July, the highest single-month total of President Trump’s second term, according to agency data provided to the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the Associated Press.

The July figure is a 15 percent increase from June’s 43,021 arrests and a 70 percent jump from February’s 29,241. In the month before Trump returned to office, ICE arrests hovered a little over 8,000, most of them transfers from local jails. By December 2025 the monthly total had already climbed past 40,177. After a dip following a high-profile Minnesota operation earlier this year, arrests held relatively flat for several months, then surged again in June and July.

Texas and Florida accounted for nearly 20,000 of the July arrests. Both states have expanded 287(g) agreements that deputize state and local officers to perform immigration functions, turning county jails and street encounters into a force multiplier for ICE. Congress last summer appropriated billions in additional funding and the agency has added roughly 12,000 deportation officers and investigative agents, allowing it to sustain a higher operational tempo even after officials shifted away from the most visible city-center raids.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had pledged during his confirmation process to keep ICE out of the headlines. The numbers show the agency has not abandoned the administration’s mass-removal goal; it has simply become less theatrical while arresting more people. Targeted operations such as the two-week Washington-area sweep that produced 1,328 arrests in early August illustrate the quieter approach.

ICE data distinguishes among people with criminal convictions, pending charges, and no criminal record. Administration officials emphasize that criminal aliens and recent illegal crossers remain priorities; critics note that a substantial share of interior arrests involve people without convictions. The July total itself does not break out that mix in the public AP analysis. Detention capacity has also risen, with Texas holding the largest ICE detainee population of any state.

The record month comes as the administration continues to press Congress for the SAVE America Act and other election- and immigration-integrity measures. Whether July’s pace can be sustained through the midterms will depend on funding, 287(g) partnerships, detention bed space, and the willingness of more jurisdictions to cooperate. For now the data show the interior enforcement machine running at a scale unseen earlier in the second term.