The daily standard of 1,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests during the early days of the Trump administration is falling short of an administration goal which is reportedly targeting 3,000 per day.
The stepped-up ICE goals were laid out by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a “tense” May 21 meeting at ICE’s D.C. headquarters, sources told Axios.
It comes with some challenges, though, because President Donald Trump’s border security measures have brought illegal border crossings to record lows, leaving the deportation numbers at roughly Biden administration levels, a concerning political data point for the White House.
That effectively means ICE arrests will have to come by rounding up those holdovers from former President Joe Biden’s open-borders policies, finding those who have evaded local law enforcement after being allowed to enter illegally and then be released into sanctuary city communities around the country.
Noem and special government employee Corey Lewandowski are urging ICE leadership for feedback and outlines for how stepped-up daily arrest goals can be met as a quiet border makes for less low-hanging fruit.
The White House’s goal of a million deportations a year remains in the balance with data showing low illegal border crossing numbers.
Miller’s “tone” was reportedly tense and more forceful in pressing the White House goals with some “motivational” directives, potentially putting ICE leadership’s jobs at risk if numbers do not pick up, according to Axios sources.
Polling for Trump’s deportations has declined, potentially leading to Miller’s pressure on ICE leadership, which has 49,000 detainees already being held in ICE custody, a figure that exceeds congressional appropriations. ICE is asking for more money to meet deportation goals as Democrat lawyers continue to challenge the sending of criminal illegal migrants back to their home countries.
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by the House and now being weighed in the Senate, provides $147 billion in border security and ICE enforcement funding as Republicans grapple with spending levels that threaten to raise the annual U.S. deficits while Trump has promised to cut government spending.
“Keeping President Trump’s promise to deport illegal aliens is something the administration takes seriously,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
“We are committed to aggressively and efficiently removing illegal aliens from the United States, and ensuring our law enforcement officers have the resources necessary to do so. The safety of the American people depends upon it.”