The Trump administration isn’t letting up on immigration enforcement, touting success on several homeland security fronts.
Crime has fallen to historic lows across the country while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to set records for the number of illegal immigrants detained per day and per month.
In addition, illegal border crossings and apprehensions have dropped to the lowest levels in more than three decades.
ICE recorded its highest monthly arrest total in the agency’s history in July, with 51,000 arrests, according to agency officials.
ICE averaged approximately 1,645 immigration arrests per day in July, Fox News reported.
July’s arrest totals give the agency back-to-back record-setting months. June held the previous monthly record with roughly 43,000 arrests.
The surge comes after a change in leadership at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE.
The agencies backed off on highly publicized, large-scale immigration operations in Democratic cities and shifted to lower-profile tactics in recent months.
ICE has widened its crackdown by making arrests at airports and immigration check-in offices, as well as targeting illegal border crossers, visa overstays and other violators during immigration check-ins, CBS News reported.
ICE was holding 68,000 detainees in custody, nearing January’s record high of over 70,000 detainees, according to internal agency figures.
Recently, the White House has pressured ICE to make 2,000 arrests every day, CBS reported.
ICE field offices, joined by Homeland Security Investigations, are carrying out larger sting operations to nab sexual predators, drunk drivers and foreign nationals driving semi-trucks.
Last month, ICE announced its Harlingen, Texas, field office arrested 238 illegal immigrants in a single day on June 18, setting a record for targeted arrests in the Rio Grande Valley.
There also have been coordinated stings with local and state officials in South Carolina, Tennessee and Indiana.
“We’re turning up the heat on the streets,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said said during a press conference last month. “We’re out there working harder than we’ve ever had because we’ve empowered our law enforcement to do their job.”
Besides making historic arrests of illegal immigrants, Mullin shared on social media, “We are taking historic action to protect one of the most vulnerable victims of the Biden Administration’s open border crisis — migrant children.”
We are taking historic action to protect one of the most vulnerable victims of the Biden Administration’s open border crisis — migrant children.
We have already located over 148,000 of these children, and we will not stop fighting until every last one is rescued. https://t.co/sC1G0KNmTR
— Secretary Markwayne Mullin (@SecMullinDHS) August 3, 2026
Mullin said federal authorities have located over 148,000 of these children, and “we will not stop fighting until every last one is rescued.”
DHS officials attributed the renewed uptick in arrests to the end of the DHS shutdown, thousands of newly hired ICE personnel and billions in new funding from two reconciliation bills, Fox News reported.
DHS praised the work of ICE officers in a post on X Monday, particularly the agency’s efforts to arrest and remove dangerous criminals, including gang members, from the country.
Every day, the brave men and women of ICE are arresting and DEPORTING dangerous criminal illegal aliens, including gang members, from our country.
Under @POTUS Trump and @SecMullinDHS, the safety of the American people will always come first. https://t.co/B167K3dKT9
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 3, 2026
Along with surging resources to detain and deport criminal illegal immigrants, DHS officials said it is paying off in other ways, including a noticeable drop in violent crime across the country.
According to a DHS news release, in the first half of 2026 versus the same period last year, homicides are down 18%, which is on pace for the lowest level in at least 126 years.
Other violent crime is also down, including carjackings by 47%, motor vehicle thefts down by 20%, robberies down nearly 17%, and residential burglaries down 13%.
“President Trump promised to make America safe again, and he has done just that,” DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said. It’s no surprise that this drop in crime coincides with deportations of dangerous criminal illegal aliens. It is common sense. When you remove criminals from the country, crime rates fall.”
