On June 25, the latest data showed that ICE currently detains about 59,000 people in facilities across the country, which not only greatly exceeds the 41,500 detention beds authorized by Congress, but may also set a record high for the US immigration detention system. The number of detainees has increased by 50% from the approximately 39,000 at the end of the Biden administration.
Data shows that as of June 23, ICE’s utilization rate has reached more than 140% of the authorized beds. Among these detainees, 47% have no criminal record, and less than 30% have been convicted, indicating that the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policy has exceeded the scope of its previous promise to only target “dangerous criminals.” Senior government officials publicly stated that all illegal stayers may be deported.
In early June, ICE launched multiple workplace raids in Los Angeles, triggering large-scale protests and sporadic violence. President Trump then ordered the National Guard and Marines to be deployed, saying that they were intended to “protect federal property and personnel.”
ICE data shows that in June, an average of about 1,200 people were arrested daily, with two days with more than 2,000 arrests. This is a significant increase from the daily average of 660 in the first 100 days of the second term, but it is still below the 3,000 daily target set by White House adviser Stephen Miller.
Independent data provided by Syracuse University and the Marshall Project show that the current total number of detentions has exceeded the historical peak of 55,000 during Trump’s tenure in 2019. Two former senior ICE officials said they had never seen the agency detain so many immigrants at the same time.
The current growth is mainly due to domestic arrests, while the number of illegal border crossings has dropped to a historic low. At this stage, more than 70% of detainees are arrested in the United States, while before the Biden administration left office, this proportion was less than 40%.
ICE also cooperated with CBP, FBI, DEA and other agencies to launch nationwide raids; some suspects were transferred from state and local prisons. At the same time, workplace raids have been fully resumed, and factories and entertainment venues in Nebraska and Louisiana have recently been searched.
It is not clear how ICE will accommodate the large number of detainees that exceeds its bed capacity. The government is considering converting military bases into temporary detention centers, such as Fort Bliss in Texas, and asking Congress for billions of dollars in funding to expand capacity.
Florida has also proposed building multiple new detention centers and plans to set up an “Alcatraz”-style facility in the Everglades, which has been supported by Homeland Security Secretary Noem.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond directly to whether the detention system is overloaded, only saying that due to the large-scale arrest of “illegal criminal aliens”, the system is under pressure and “urgently needs to be expanded.”
