The Trump government has stepped up its anti-immigration agenda further by instructing federal agencies to carry out 3,000 immigration-related arrests a day that is, more than one million in a year. This heightened target, much higher than arrest levels before, was revealed during a tense May 21 meeting between White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and top ICE officials.
The order amplifies ICE’s enforcement powers and adds aggressive tactics like sending non-ICE federal law enforcement officers, deputizing local police under the 287(g) program, and making arrests at previously sheltered sites such as courthouses. These moves have raised alarm among civil rights organizations and policy analysts.
Critics contend that the arrest quotas have resulted in due process violations, overcrowding in detention centers, and indiscriminate arrests of long-time residents, families, and even US citizens. Advocates claim the administration is putting arrest numbers above fairness and public safety, destabilizing communities and eroding confidence in the justice system.
ICE has also expanded its operations to previously untargeted regions, such as high-profile raids in Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Internal memos show officers instructed to arrest people immediately following court hearings, regardless of case results.
Even with a sharp decline in unauthorized border crossing, interior enforcement has grown sharply. ICE detention levels hit 49,000 as of May 18 10,000 higher than when Trump became president rising serious concern over capacity and human rights conditions.
Immigration judges are also being ordered to close asylum cases without hearings, after critics argue it denies migrants their legal rights.
In the meantime, a number of congressional spending bills outline enhanced enforcement funding with reduced provision of essential services, leading to warnings that ICE’s uncontrolled expansion threatens America with greater constitutional abuses and financial waste.
Experts and human rights groups caution the strategy is unsustainable and profoundly corrosive to American values.