The Trump administration is asking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices around the country to ramp up arrests of immigrants who are residing in the country illegally, according to anonymous sources who spoke with The Washington Post. According to the newspaper, President Donald Trump wants ICE to increase its daily arrests from a few hundred to between 1,200 and 1,500.
In a call on Saturday, Jan. 25, four senior ICE officials, speaking anonymously, told the Post that each field office had been tasked with arresting 75 undocumented migrants per day. If they fail to meet these targets, ICE managers will reportedly be held accountable.
The senior ICE officials also told the Post that the quotas will force ICE agents to “engage in more indiscriminate enforcement tactics or face accusations of civil rights violations.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Post in an email that their story on ICE quotas was “false.”
Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, appeared on ABC News Sunday morning, Jan. 26.
“Is this what we will see every single day, ending in what the president has promised — millions and millions being deported?” ABC News’ Martha Raddatz asked.
“Yes, but you’re going to see that number steadily increase, the number of arrests nationwide, as we open up the aperture,” Homan said. “Right now, we’re concentrated on public safety threats and national security threats. That’s a smaller population. So we’re going to do this on a priority basis as President Trump’s promise, but as that aperture opens, we’ll have more arrests nationwide.”
Last week, the Trump administration discarded a policy that had stopped ICE officials from accessing “sensitive places,” such as schools and churches, to arrest immigrants who lack the proper paperwork to be in the country.
Homan argues that dangerous individuals often hide in these places to avoid deportation.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security’s acting secretary said: “Thanks to the last administration’s open-border policies, we’ve seen violent criminals and gang members terrorize American communities. Today’s action empowers law enforcement officials at the DOJ to help identify and apprehend aliens who have illegally come into our country. Mobilizing these law enforcement officials will help fulfill President Trump’s promise to the American people to carry out mass deportations. For decades, efforts to find and apprehend illegal aliens have not been given proper resources. This is a major step in fixing that problem.”
On Sunday, ICE ramped up immigration enforcement in the sanctuary city of Chicago, where local police are barred from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Even if Chicago’s local law enforcement has a violent undocumented offender behind bars, they are legally barred from relaying that information to ICE.
ICE released a statement Sunday, saying: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with federal partners, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP, and the U.S. Marshals Service, began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in Chicago to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responded in a post on X: “We’ve received reports of ICE enforcement activity in Chicago today. Please know that Chicago police were not involved. My team and I are working closely with city officials. It’s important that everyone understands their rights.”
Homan and Trump have promised millions of deportations. Homan has also repeatedly said that they’re going after criminals first. He added that other individuals living in the country illegally will also be “on the table.”
