Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested about 50,000 people in August. That matches July, and July was already the busiest month of President Donald Trump’s second term. A senior Department of Homeland Security official and preliminary government data put the figure there, NBC News reported.
July’s total was 49,571, a 15% jump over the previous record set in June. Strategically, the pattern is a sustained plateau at the top, after arrests dipped in February and March.
Fewer cameras, more arrests
The raids that drew crowds and cable crews earlier in the year have given way to something quieter. Arrests now happen at traffic stops, at airports, at immigration check-ins and outside people’s homes, often with local police involved.
The money explains some of it. The House approved a $70 billion package for ICE and Border Patrol in June, which makes ICE the best-funded law enforcement agency in American history. The agency has spent on detention capacity and on new tools, including electric gloves and robot dogs. It has also hired more than 12,000 people this year, doubling its force.
The people being picked up are changing too. In July, 51% of those arrested had no prior criminal record, a first under this administration. Removals hit a record as well, with nearly 34,000 people deported that month.
Partnerships with local police
The 287(g) program lets local officers help carry out immigration enforcement, and the administration has leaned on it. How much it matters depends on the state. The Nevada Independent, analyzing data from the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley, found that Nevada’s 287(g) arrests made up less than 0.5% of all arrests since Trump took office. Several states friendly to the policy have seen more than 20% of arrests come through such partnerships. West Virginia leads at more than 60%. Nevada ranks 34th.
Nevada still set its own records this summer. ICE arrested 203 people there in a two-week span from late June to early July, the most ever in a two-week period. In the week of June 22, 70 arrests were made “at-large” in the community, the highest on record. Michael Kagan, director of the UNLV Immigration Clinic, put the strategy bluntly: “They are looking to have as high numbers of arrests as possible, but with as low a public profile as they can.”
Texas dwarfs Nevada. Daily arrests there total nearly 400, more than Nevada sees in a month. The Nevada Department of Corrections quietly joined the 287(g) program in July.
What lies ahead
Much of the recent work has targeted people who lost temporary protected status, especially Haitians and Syrians, after a June Supreme Court ruling cleared the way. Attorneys warn that the expiration of TPS for Salvadorans in September could push the numbers higher. Homeland Security is also weighing the revocation of up to 200,000 visas, mainly those of people who applied for asylum after entering on short-term visas.
Sources
- ICE Arrests 50,000 People In August, Matching July’s Record High | iHeart
- ICE arrests hit record highs in Nevada over the summer – The Nevada Independent
