Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested over 7,400 people in nine days across multiple states as part of its aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration since the new Trump administration took office.
ICE officers have been seen conducting raids on homes, work sites, and other establishments, and deportations have increased, with the Trump administration vowing to send the most violent migrants to Guantánamo Bay.
According to a daily total of arrests, as of January 31, ICE had arrested 7,412 people who the agency claims are in the country illegally. The agency reports that nearly 6,000 ICE detainers have been issued to individuals.
ICE has posted nine daily arrest totals to X, as well as details from various raids in sanctuary cities such as New York City, Chicago, and Boston, where they have apprehended illegals accused of sex crimes against minors, rapes, firearms, and drug offenses, as well as violent gang members from Tren de Aragua and MS-13.
Border czar Tom Homan has stated that the administration is currently targeting only violent illegal aliens, while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees ICE, claims that federal immigration authorities are arresting the “worst of the worst” in raids. She claims the streets are now safer as a result.
Many ICE raids have been conducted in collaboration with other federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Noem participated in an immigration enforcement raid in New York City Tuesday morning, where officers apprehended Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, an alleged ringleader of the violent Tren de Aragua gang. Zambrano-Pacheco is the same man who was caught on camera in a viral video of heavily armed men kicking down an apartment door at an Aurora, Colorado, complex last summer.
ICE arrested Luis Adolfo Guerra Perez, a 19-year-old Guatemalan citizen and MS-13 gang member, in Massachusetts last week. He faced state gun charges and had previously been ordered deported before being released by a Boston court.
More than 60 cases have been published by ICE, with at least 20 more posted by the White House X account.
However, for the vast majority of the 7,412, information about their criminal histories is not yet available.
The total number of arrests comes as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed that the “worst of the worst” criminal migrants will be temporarily housed at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp and that “all options will be on the table” for military action against the cartels.
Hegseth made the announcement during an interview with “Fox and Friends” on Friday, following President Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday that he will instruct the Pentagon to prepare Guantánamo Bay to detain 30,000 “criminal illegal aliens.”
“Today I’m also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantánamo Bay,” Mr. Trump said. “Most people don’t even know about it.”
It was later revealed that Trump issued a presidential memorandum, not an executive order, on the subject.
Locals in these areas have generally reacted positively to the arrest news.
Ramses Frías, a Queens activist who has expressed concerns about a crime crisis in his neighborhood, which is partially represented by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said the raids have been well received by the community.
“Many residents, from immigrants to citizens, welcome ICE coming in and taking the criminals out of these communities,” Frías, a city council candidate, told Fox News Digital. “They welcome law and order and want safe streets.”
However, not everyone agreed with the raids and Mayor Brandon Johnson recently “reaffirmed” his commitment to keep Chicago a sanctuary city, as did Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
