Immigration arrests under President Trump's second term reached 43,000 in June and climbed to 50,000 in July, with removals hitting 34,000 that same month, according to administration figures.
Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, has overseen the enforcement surge. Earlier this year, Homan took charge of unwinding a controversial Department of Homeland Security operation in Minneapolis, drawing criticism from Gregory Bovino, a border officer who had run that operation.
Bovino accused Homan of appearing tough while easing up on mass deportations—a charge the latest figures undercut. After the Minneapolis pullback caused a temporary dip in enforcement, the administration rechanneled strategy and deployed $75 billion in funding from the Big Beautiful Bill Act to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for additional enforcement assets.
Homan's approach diverges sharply from that of Kristi Noem, the former DHS head who had sent Bovino to Minneapolis. Where Noem sought public displays of enforcement raids, Homan has pursued consistent, low-profile operations. The shift has frustrated anti-ICE activists, who say arrests are now "generally happening routinely, and quietly," making it harder for volunteers to monitor ICE operations.
Enforcement now relies heavily on routine pickups at traffic stops, immigration check-ins, and airports. News accounts have noted that a majority of those apprehended face immigration offenses rather than other crimes. While Trump and Homan have emphasized targeting "the worst of the worst," immigration law grants the government authority to arrest and detain immigrants for any immigration violation.
Many people staying and working in the U.S. illegally commit related crimes—identity theft, Social Security fraud, falsifying I-9 employment forms—which immigration law mandates enforcement against in certain circumstances.
Separately, Operation Rotten Apple in New York has removed murderers, rapists and gang members from the streets.
