Federal immigration agents conducted mass arrests across the United States during the recent government shutdown, detaining tens of thousands of people including many without criminal records, according to newly released data.
Unprecedented Detention Numbers During Shutdown
While most government operations ground to a halt during the shutdown period from 1 October to 12 November, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) maintained aggressive enforcement operations nationwide. The agency arrested and detained approximately 54,000 people while deporting around 56,000 individuals during this period.
The consequences of this enforcement surge are stark: more than 65,000 people are currently held in immigration detention facilities across the United States. This represents the highest number of immigration detainees recorded since modern detention practices began in the 1980s, according to immigration research experts.
Criminal Record Arrests Versus Non-Criminal Detentions
Despite Department of Homeland Security officials claiming that immigration enforcement targeted the "worst of the worst," the data reveals a different story. More than 21,000 people with no criminal record were arrested and detained by ICE, surpassing the number of individuals with criminal convictions or pending charges.
Adam Sawyer, director of research at Relevant Research, confirmed this represents "the highest number of detainees, at least since the start of our modern era of immigration detention from the 1980s."
The dramatic shift in enforcement priorities becomes clear when comparing current figures with earlier data. During the first week of Donald Trump's second term in January 2025, only 950 people without criminal history were in immigration detention. The latest numbers show a staggering 2,131% increase to nearly 22,000 non-criminal detainees.
Expanded Enforcement Tactics and Budget Increases
The Trump administration has significantly altered immigration enforcement approaches, backed by substantial funding increases. Leaked emails obtained by The Guardian reveal that ICE officials received instructions to arrest at least 3,000 people daily – equivalent to one million arrests annually.
Enforcement operations have expanded beyond traditional methods. Agents were directed to arrest "collaterals" – the agency's term for individuals present during operations who lack arrest warrants. This has resulted in ICE arresting people with legal status, including some citizens.
Major cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina have witnessed massive immigration operations. Border patrol agents, traditionally focused on the US-Mexico border, have been redeployed to assist ICE with interior arrests as border restrictions reduced their usual workload.
Austin Kocher, an assistant research professor at Syracuse University who analyses ICE statistics, noted that the latest data contradicts the administration's public statements. "This coincides with the Trump administration's enforcement hysteria in Chicago, which Trump justified as needed to catch dangerous 'illegal' criminals," Kocher wrote, adding that the numbers call into question Trump's "outrageous and inflammatory claims."
The current immigration detention population includes approximately 16,000 people with criminal backgrounds and nearly 15,300 individuals with pending criminal charges. However, immigrants without criminal records continue to constitute the largest group in US immigration detention, despite being undocumented representing a civil infraction rather than a criminal offence.
