Immigration Arrests Hit a New Record, DHS Says in Long-Awaited Data

After a three-month-long delay, the longest in its recent history, the Department of Homeland Security on July 20 published detention numbers that show immigration enforcement grew again in the interior of the country under Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

The figures show ICE arrests at a record level, with the number of people in detention increasing again, notably reversing a dip from detainees with no criminal record.

The new data showing an uptick in enforcement activity follows backlash over recent fatal shootings, one in Texas and one in Maine, that again thrust the agency into the national spotlight. Earlier in 2026, the agency’s high-profile operations in multiple cities led to calls for more accountability and transparency in immigration enforcement and a months-long stalemate over the agency’s funding.

Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, said the new numbers point to a change in immigration tactics but with similar results as before.

{snip}

Ruiz Soto pointed to the share of people detained without a criminal record, which has grown the most of any group under the second Trump administration, staying roughly even during Mullin’s first months.

The new numbers show the average daily number of people booked into detention from ICE arrests reached over 1,300 in June – a 32% increase since April, Mullin’s first full month.

It’s also the highest of any month going back to 2021, according to a USA TODAY compilation of historical files.

While the increase is significant, the pace of removals has stayed roughly flat, with the total number of people in detention increasing after the reversal that followed the deadly shootings in Minneapolis in January.

{snip}

Data published July 20 marked over 100 days since the last update in April, pushing the average time between releases so far in 2026 to 42 days, nearly three times the historical schedule.

Through 2025, Trump’s first year back in office, and the four years before, ICE had been relatively consistent about publishing data roughly every two weeks, following a congressional mandate to do so.

{snip}