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ICE arrests have surged under the second Trump administration, with new data highlighting the increase in arrests of people without criminal convictions or charges.Arrests have seen some decline in the most recent months, following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers during the Trump administration’s ICE operation in Minneapolis. The data released at the end of March from the Deportation Data Project includes data through March 10 of this year. It was processed and obtained from government data via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Deportation Data Project.Before the new release of data last month, the most recent data went through October.The Get the Facts Data Team analyzed the new data and found that the average daily number of ICE arrests has more than tripled since Trump took office in January 2025, compared to the last year of Joe Biden’s presidency. In the last year of Biden’s administration, there were an average of 294 ICE arrests per day. From Trump’s inauguration day on Jan. 20, 2025, to March 10, 2026, there has been an average of 902 arrests per day.The surge comes with an increase in interior immigration enforcement and street arrests of people not convicted or charged with any crimes.ICE did not respond to requests from the Get the Facts Data Team for comment findings or for additional data. In a report released along with the data, the Deportation Data Project cautioned about the completeness of the data.For example, the data offers a look at how immigration enforcement has changed in the past few months, but it is limited in scope. The ICE arrest dataset categorizes an arrest by the state it was in and the area of responsibility, as defined by ICE. There are 25 areas of responsibility in the United States, but they are inconsistent in geography and size. For example, the Chicago Area of Responsibility covers Illinois as well as Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky.“Despite these things, it is still the best data that we have so far,” said Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, emphasizing that it is also the most recent data available. The arrest statistics ICE publishes publicly include data through January 2025 and only include area of responsibility as a geography.About 15% of arrests in the data don’t have a state listed. The data team still analyzed ICE arrest data from Oct. 1, 2022, to March 10, 2026, with available geographic information to see how data has shifted regionally.Who is being arrested?The data shows an increase in people arrested who have no known criminal convictions or charges.This includes people who have “broken U.S. immigration laws including visa overstays and Visa Waiver Program violators,” according to ICE.Being in the U.S. without authorization alone isn’t a criminal offense, but entering without authorization is a misdemeanor or a felony.The Trump administration has put a heavy focus on arresting and deporting people who have committed the “worst of the worst crimes,” it says.However, almost 37% of people who ICE arrested in Trump’s second term have not been charged or convicted of a crime — an increase from 21.5% in the last year of Biden’s presidency.Ruiz Soto highlighted the focus of the Trump administration on focusing on the “worst of the worst.””This data shows that the objective of Trump administration in focusing on the worst of the worst is not so far materialized,” Ruiz Soto said.People convicted of crimes made up more than 54% of arrests in Biden’s final year, which has declined to almost 34% under Trump. Of the people convicted of crimes who were arrested, many were arrested for non-violent crimes. The data that shows just ICE arrests doesn’t include details about the type of conviction a person has. However, data on arrests that lead to detention book-ins from the Deportation Data Project showed the majority of those convicted of a crime had committed nonviolent crimes. Where are people being arrested?The latest data release highlights the trend that more people are being arrested internally, in neighborhoods, at immigration courts, ICE field offices and more. Geographically, much of the attention has shifted to places where immigration enforcement has surged, like Chicago, Minneapolis and other cities.But in places where enforcement occurs more regularly, like Florida and Texas, there’s a lot of coordination between police and ICE or Border Patrol, according to Ruiz Soto. For example, last year in Florida, multiple universities signed agreements to cooperate with ICE.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=
ICE arrests have surged under the second Trump administration, with new data highlighting the increase in arrests of people without criminal convictions or charges.
Arrests have seen some decline in the most recent months, following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers during the Trump administration’s ICE operation in Minneapolis.
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The data released at the end of March from the Deportation Data Project includes data through March 10 of this year. It was processed and obtained from government data via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Deportation Data Project.
Before the new release of data last month, the most recent data went through October.
The Get the Facts Data Team analyzed the new data and found that the average daily number of ICE arrests has more than tripled since Trump took office in January 2025, compared to the last year of Joe Biden’s presidency.
In the last year of Biden’s administration, there were an average of 294 ICE arrests per day. From Trump’s inauguration day on Jan. 20, 2025, to March 10, 2026, there has been an average of 902 arrests per day.
The surge comes with an increase in interior immigration enforcement and street arrests of people not convicted or charged with any crimes.
ICE did not respond to requests from the Get the Facts Data Team for comment findings or for additional data.
In a report released along with the data, the Deportation Data Project cautioned about the completeness of the data.
For example, the data offers a look at how immigration enforcement has changed in the past few months, but it is limited in scope. The ICE arrest dataset categorizes an arrest by the state it was in and the area of responsibility, as defined by ICE.
There are 25 areas of responsibility in the United States, but they are inconsistent in geography and size. For example, the Chicago Area of Responsibility covers Illinois as well as Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky.
“Despite these things, it is still the best data that we have so far,” said Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, emphasizing that it is also the most recent data available.
The arrest statistics ICE publishes publicly include data through January 2025 and only include area of responsibility as a geography.
About 15% of arrests in the data don’t have a state listed. The data team still analyzed ICE arrest data from Oct. 1, 2022, to March 10, 2026, with available geographic information to see how data has shifted regionally.
Who is being arrested?
The data shows an increase in people arrested who have no known criminal convictions or charges.
This includes people who have “broken U.S. immigration laws including visa overstays and Visa Waiver Program violators,” according to ICE.
Being in the U.S. without authorization alone isn’t a criminal offense, but entering without authorization is a misdemeanor or a felony.
The Trump administration has put a heavy focus on arresting and deporting people who have committed the “worst of the worst crimes,” it says.
However, almost 37% of people who ICE arrested in Trump’s second term have not been charged or convicted of a crime — an increase from 21.5% in the last year of Biden’s presidency.
Ruiz Soto highlighted the focus of the Trump administration on focusing on the “worst of the worst.”
“This data shows that the objective of Trump administration in focusing on the worst of the worst is not so far materialized,” Ruiz Soto said.
People convicted of crimes made up more than 54% of arrests in Biden’s final year, which has declined to almost 34% under Trump.
Of the people convicted of crimes who were arrested, many were arrested for non-violent crimes. The data that shows just ICE arrests doesn’t include details about the type of conviction a person has. However, data on arrests that lead to detention book-ins from the Deportation Data Project showed the majority of those convicted of a crime had committed nonviolent crimes.
Where are people being arrested?
The latest data release highlights the trend that more people are being arrested internally, in neighborhoods, at immigration courts, ICE field offices and more.
Geographically, much of the attention has shifted to places where immigration enforcement has surged, like Chicago, Minneapolis and other cities.
But in places where enforcement occurs more regularly, like Florida and Texas, there’s a lot of coordination between police and ICE or Border Patrol, according to Ruiz Soto. For example, last year in Florida, multiple universities signed agreements to cooperate with ICE.
