August 27, 2026 · Immigration, Detention & Civil Rights
· Investigative finding
Confirmed
ICE Arrested More Than 800 People a Day With No Criminal Record in July — the First Month They Were a Majority
Federal data obtained from ICE by the Deportation Data Project shows the agency arrested an average of more than 800 people a day with no criminal record in July, a record, while averaging more than 1,580 arrests a day overall. July was the first month of Trump's second term in which people with only civil immigration violations, rather than pending charges or convictions, made up a majority of those arrested. People with violent convictions were about 4 percent of July arrests. At least 45,300 arrests in June and July — nearly half the total — were made in communities rather than jails or prisons.
The figures test the administration's stated focus on "the worst of the worst," and the community-arrest share points to enforcement shifting toward traffic stops, airports and check-ins, encounters that are less visible and more likely to involve people facing no criminal case.
A DHS spokesperson said many people counted as non-criminal "just don't have a rap sheet in the U.S." The White House target remains 2,000 arrests a day, and DHS has allotted $1.15 billion through September 2027 to expand its 287(g) partnerships.
The figures test the administration's stated focus on "the worst of the worst," and the community-arrest share points to enforcement shifting toward traffic stops, airports and check-ins, encounters that are less visible and more likely to involve people facing no criminal case.
A DHS spokesperson said many people counted as non-criminal "just don't have a rap sheet in the U.S." The White House target remains 2,000 arrests a day, and DHS has allotted $1.15 billion through September 2027 to expand its 287(g) partnerships.