Detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement set a monthly record high for the second Trump administration in July, internal agency data obtained by CBS News shows, as ICE widened its crackdown, making arrests at airports, immigration check-in offices and communities across the U.S.
Last month, ICE took into custody more than 46,000 individuals facing deportation because of alleged immigration violations, like entering the U.S. illegally or overstaying their visas, according to preliminary Department of Homeland Security figures.
The statistics, which have not yet been publicly disclosed by the federal government, show that a summer enforcement surge by ICE continued to intensify in July, as the agency faced pressure from the White House to record 2,000 arrests across the country each day. An average of 1,500 detainees entered ICE custody each day last month, the data indicates, though some of them were first arrested by Customs and Border Protection agents.
The over 46,000 book-ins in July surpassed the roughly 43,000 detentions recorded by ICE in June, at the time the highest tally during President Trump’s second term. As of this weekend, ICE was holding 68,000 detainees in its sprawling detention system, approaching a record high of over 70,000 detainees set in January, according to internal agency figures.
The numbers also show the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration has rebounded this summer, following a significant drop in arrests earlier this year after federal agents killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during an enforcement blitz in Minneapolis that garnered bipartisan criticism.
