With the southern border effectively shut down to illegal crossings, the Trump administration wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement to supercharge arrests and removals of illegal aliens in the country.
The Trump team is calling for 3,000 illegal migrants to be picked up per day — and deliver on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations. An estimated 10 million to 16 million people illegally crossed the southern border during the Biden administration, so Immigration and Customs Enforcement has its work cut out.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem put pressure on Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders to increase arrests during a meeting last week, The New York Post reports.
Border Czar Tom Homan said ICE would initially focus on rounding up illegal aliens, gang members and public safety threats who have criminal records or deportation orders.
Homan said at the end of April that 139,000 people had been deported in the first three months of the administration, and even more had been detained.
This latest quota indicates all illegal immigrants are at risk of deportation. Noem has emphasized they should take advantage of the government’s free airfare and $1,000 stipend to self-deport through the CBP Home app.
Fox News Digital reports that apprehensions at the southern border by U.S. Customs and Border Protection plunged more than 90% from a year ago in April. In addition, border officials confiscated nearly 800 pounds of fentanyl at the border in April.
According to data released by the CBP, Border Patrol averaged 279 apprehensions per day at the southern border in April, compared to 4,297 apprehensions in April 2024. The total apprehensions for April this year landed at 8,383, compared to last year’s 129,000.
CBP officials also noted that just five illegal aliens were temporarily released into the U.S. during April, compared to 68,000 during the same month last year.
“For the first time in years, more agents are back in the field – patrolling territories that CBP didn’t have the bandwidth or manpower to oversee just six months ago,” said Pete Flores, acting commissioner of CBP, in the Fox News Digital report. “But thanks to this administration’s dramatic shift in security posture at our border, we are now seeing operational control becoming a reality – and it’s only just beginning.”
And Secretary Noem on Tuesday honored the men and women of the Border Patrol, sharing in a post on X the president’s proclamation to celebrate Border Patrol’s 101st anniversary:
“For more than a century, the men and women of the Border Patrol have stood on the front lines of national security as America’s original watchmen. The threats may change, but the mission remains: protect the homeland. On Border Patrol’s 101st anniversary, we honor and thank all who’ve worn the uniform. A nation without borders is no nation at all.”
The New York Post reports ICE data for FY2025 shows that Texas and New Mexico have had the highest density of arrests and deportations — but targeted enforcement operations are taking place across the nation’s interior.
A greater emphasis on deportations could lead to more arrests across the country. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proudly touted the success of Operation Tidal Wave, which resulted in more than 1,100 arrests in a single week.
New York Mayor Eric Adams supports the crackdown on Tren de Aragua gang members who are behind a spike in crime and organized chaos in the city.
Tuesday’s sweep of upscale areas such as Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard indicates ICE doesn’t care if illegals are cutting grass, working construction or cleaning hotels.
To help ramp up deportations, Capitol Hill Republicans are pushing for an extra $147 billion in immigration and border funding over the next 10 years — part of the Trump-backed “big beautiful bill” that passed the House last week.
Miller, the leading architect of President Trump’s immigration policy, had a “tense” meeting with immigration officials May 21 at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in D.C., according to four people familiar with the meeting Axios reports.
The 3,000-arrests-per-day target is double the number of daily arrests that agents were making in the early days of Trump’s term. In January, the Trump administration gave ICE a quota of 1,800 arrests per day, but Miller and Noem are pushing for more.
At that rate, 650,000 more migrants would be picked up this year, The New York Post reported.
“Keeping President Trump’s promise to deport illegal aliens is something the administration takes seriously,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to The Post.
“We are committed to aggressively and efficiently removing illegal aliens from the United States, and ensuring our law enforcement officers have the resources necessary to do so. The safety of the American people depends upon it.”
