Federal law enforcement at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is closing in on achieving half a million arrests of illegal immigrants in the United States during President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a senior administration official.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons disclosed to House appropriators on Thursday that the agency, along with help from other federal agencies, had collectively taken into custody almost 457,000 people between Jan. 20, 2025, and mid-April.
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“We’ve significantly increased our operational tempo since Jan. 20. We’ve arrested nearly 457,000 aliens,” Lyons told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security during a budget hearing.
Trump vowed to carry out the “largest-ever” deportation operation in U.S. history, and he is well on track. ICE has averaged nearly 1,000 arrests per day, well over double the average daily arrests made over the past decade.
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ICE has maintained that the large majority of people arrested have criminal histories, which include those with convictions, as well as those who have been charged but not convicted.
Roughly 281,000 illegal immigrants, or 61%, of the 457,000 people arrested had criminal histories. The 457,000 also included 1,600 known or suspected terrorists.
