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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained over 10,000 people across the U.S. over the past five days.
According to The New York Times, top ICE officials have pushed to double daily arrest numbers in recent days after the White House called for an increase to 2,000 ICE arrests per day.
The number of people detained in ICE immigration jails has also jumped by nearly 4,000 in recent days, with more than 63,000 people in ICE detention nationwide.
The White House’s push for an increase in ICE arrests and detentions is likely buoyed by the Supreme Court decisions at the end of June that gave President Donald Trump increased power in implementing his anti-immigrant agenda. The Supreme Court gave Trump the green light to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from some 350,000 Haitians and Syrians, while giving border officials more ability to remove lawful green card holders and reject asylum seekers.
The White House’s deportation plans were also emboldened by major increases in ICE and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding in 2025 – with the “Big Beautiful Bill” allocating $170 billion to DHS – and in June, with the “Secure America Act” ensuring funding for ICE and DHS through 2029. Under Trump, ICE has become the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the country.
The New York Times reported that ICE officials were told in recent days to have as many ICE agents as possible working seven days a week, with the vast majority assigned to arrest operations.
The surge in ICE arrests has reportedly affected cities across the country.
“For the past week, masked ICE agents have swept through Milwaukee and Waukesha,” Wisconsin state representative Francesca Hong posted on X on Thursday. “There have been at least 39 arrests since the weekend and reports of brutal intimidation tactics like boxing in vehicles, smashing car windows and drawing weapons.”
Thomas Kennedy, a policy consultant with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, also reported increased ICE presence in his state.
“We have seen this surge in immigration detention arrests in South Florida, where an immigration check-in center is being used as a makeshift detention facility,” he wrote on X. “People are being detained in office rooms at the Miramar ICE-ERO building for days while forced to sleep on the floor.”
During his March 2026 confirmation hearing, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had promised a “quieter” approach to ICE arrests and detention to keep DHS out of the news cycle. This has meant a shift away from announced ICE surges in cities – which led to major resistance in places like Minneapolis after immigration agents killed two activists in January – but no fundamental change to ICE’s approach.
Earlier in June, Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan said that New York City would see its largest ICE presence yet. “You are going to see more ICE agents than you have ever seen in New York City. And it’s coming. I just reviewed an operational plan. I’m not going to tell you exactly when it’s going to happen, but it’s coming,” he said.
On Wednesday, The Intercept reported that ICE has made arrests at immigration courts over the past week despite a judge’s order against such arrests. The individuals arrested were transferred to three different detention centers.
In May, Trump appointed David Venturella as acting director of ICE. Venturella had worked in high-ranking positions at GEO Group, one of the largest for-profit prison and detention center operators, which has profited enormously off of the expansion in detention.
Meanwhile, as ICE expands its arrests and detentions, a heat wave has worsened conditions at immigration jails. On Thursday, temperatures reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit in Newark, New Jersey, further deteriorating conditions at GEO Group-run Delaney Hall, which has no air conditioning in at least one unit.
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