Political pressure and fierce public criticism have done little to slow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s efforts to remove people who are alleged to be in the country illegally.
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Recent statistics from the Department of Homeland Security show ICE reached a new record last month for the number of individuals booked into an immigration detention facility since the beginning of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
A combined 43,318 people entered an ICE detention center in June, either by an ICE agent or a Customs and Border Protection officer — the new highest entry number since last December.
As of July 20, ICE was detaining 65,765 people nationwide for the year. Of those held in adult detention facilities, about 30% were classified as convicted criminals, roughly 31% had pending criminal charges and about 40% were classified as other immigration violators.
The federal law enforcement’s social media page seems to be filled daily with posts showing recent arrests of people accused of doing heinous crimes.
The brave men and women of @ICEgov law enforcement work 24/7 to remove the worst of the worst from our communities.
Just yesterday, ICE arrested these murderers, pedophiles, violent assailants, and other public safety threats ⬇️ https://t.co/A7FKgKuSb8
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 21, 2026
The average daily detained population climbed rapidly during the first four months of 2026 before easing somewhat:
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- January — 71,937
- February — 68,224
- March — 63,256
- April — 59,862
- May — 58,192
- June — 59,425
Trump administration: No slowing down in sight
Earlier this year, Homeland Security came under intense scrutiny after two Americans were killed during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was fired from her leadership position following the backlash.
The criticism flared again last week after two people were fatally shot during separate encounters with ICE agents in Maine and Texas.
But on Monday, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin didn’t show any sign of the department slowing down when he posted, “Good morning America. It’s a great day for deportations,” on X.
Good morning America. It’s a great day for deportations. pic.twitter.com/pn8GofpOMZ
— Secretary Markwayne Mullin (@SecMullinDHS) July 20, 2026
He recently told the press, “Our arrests are up. We’re hitting single-day records every single day, but what we’ve done is I’ve turned down the temperature of the stove to try to get it correct without boiling over.”
He continued, “When I say turn down the temperature, I turn down (the) temperature with you guys, we’re turning up the heat on the streets. We’re out there working harder than we ever have, because we’ve empowered our law enforcement to do their job.”
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