The number of people held in U.S. immigration detention has reached a record high of more than 60,000, surpassing a previous peak set during the first Trump administration, according to internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records obtained by The New York Times.
The figure marks a steep increase from roughly 39,000 detainees recorded in January, reflecting a rapid escalation in arrests and deportations. ICE records show that more than 1,100 people were detained between Friday and Monday alone, averaging about 380 per day.
The prior high, 55,654, was recorded in August 2019. The majority of current arrests are being made by ICE in the U.S. interior rather than by Customs and Border Protection at the border.
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Administration officials have said that the aim is to target undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records, but a recent analysis by CBS News based on available data indicates that many detainees do not fall into that category. Between January 1 and June 24, ICE deported about 100,000 people, 70,583 of whom had criminal convictions. Most of those offenses were related to traffic or immigration violations. Just 0.58% of deportees had homicide convictions, and 8.5% were convicted of assault.
Arrest patterns also show concentration in states with strong cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE. From January 20 to June 27, Texas accounted for nearly a quarter of all arrests, followed by Florida (11%), California (7%), Georgia (4%), and Arizona (3%). The majority of those taken into custody were from Latin America or the Caribbean, led by nearly 40,000 Mexican nationals.
Since returning to office, President Trump has expanded ICE's budget from about $8 billion to roughly $28 billion, authorized the use of military facilities for detention, and deployed National Guard units to immigration sites. The Defense Department is building a 5,000-bed detention center at a military base in Texas, and some detainees have been sent to Guantánamo Bay.
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