ICE arrests fall despite efforts to intensify migratory operations

Arturo Sánchez Jiménez and Emir Olivares

La Jornada newspaper
Friday, September 12, 2025, p. 8

The number of migrant arrests by the Customs Immigration and Control Service (ICE) has decreased in the United States, despite the efforts of the government of President Donald Trump for intensifying migratory operations.

According to recent figures, published on August 29, 2025, the daily average of arrests fell 14 percent compared to June: from 1,124 arrests to 1,55 in August. In fact, the figures are well below the goal of 3 thousand daily arrests ordered in May.

These are data from the transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), an independent center of the University of Syracuse that collects and analyzes official information from the US government.

The report highlights that the presidential orders to deploy staff of the National Guard and the Armed Forces in cities such as Los Angeles and Washington failed to increase arrests nationwide. Nor has the transfer of thousands of agents of the Federal Research Office, the Drug Control Administration, the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire and Explosives Agency and the Sheriff Service to reinforce the OCE operations.

According to Trac, as of August 24, 2025 there were 61,226 people in ICE custody, of which 70.3 percent –43 thousand 21 – had no criminal record. Among those who do, many correspond to minor offenses, such as traffic offenses. During July, 31,273 people were admitted to detention centers.

In addition, Texas concentrates most of the arrests in fiscal year 2025.

On the other hand, the programs of alternatives to detention currently monitor 182 thousand 584 families and individuals, and San Francisco is the office with the largest number of people registered in this scheme.