The California National Guard stands by ICE agents in Los Angeles. June 10, 2025. Photo: ICE
SYRACUSE, New York - New data shows a notable shift in U.S. Immigration enforcement: ICE arrests dropped nearly 20% last month, following protests across the country, particularly in California.
Immigration rights advocates say aggressive tactics, including masked agents arresting individuals without criminal convictions, fueled the backlash.
The Trump administration insists that ICE's priority remains targeting individuals convicted of violent crimes and other serious offenses, and the number of immigrants removed from the United States has gone up slightly in the last month, data shows.
But numbers from Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, show otherwise: 71.1% of the people being held in ICE detention have no criminal conviction, and many of those convicted committed only minor offenses, including traffic violations.
As for the decline in ICE arrests, TRAC reported that ICE reports making an average of 990 daily initial book-ins through the first 26 days of July, a decrease of 19 percent from the daily rate of 1,224 arrests during June.
Both numbers are well below what senior White House adviser Stephen Miller said was the administration's stated goal of 3,000 arrests a day.
The 56,945 people reported as currently detained amounts to a slight drop from the 57,861 detainees ICE reported holding four weeks ago, TRAC reports.
Over the first 26 days of July, removals increased by an average of 84 more per day over removals during June, TRAC data shows.
This story was reported from Oakland, Calif.