With President Trump back in office, ICE has made 32,000 arrests in the first 50 days of the new administration, with 70% facing charges or having been convicted of crimes, senior agency officials said Wednesday.
The arrests have already “maxed out” ICE detention beds nationwide.
According to ICE officials, 14,000 of the illegal migrants apprehended by Trump’s ICE are convicted criminals, 10,000 face pending criminal charges, and 8,700 have no criminal records in the United States.
“It is just the beginning,” said acting ICE Director Todd Lyons.
“We expect these ICE arrests and removal numbers will only go up as we unleash an agency that had its hands tied behind its back for the last four years,” according to Lyons.
However, ICE would not say how many illegal migrants have been deported thus far.
“President Trump campaigned on border security enforcement, the American people voted on it, and we are delivering it beyond anyone’s expectations,” Lyons told reporters.
The Trump administration’s ICE sweeps have already resulted in nearly a quarter of the 114,000 arrests made last year, according to officials.
However, agency officials accused the Biden administration of “cooking the books” on ICE arrest data, claiming that they arrested “tens of thousands” of migrants while only processing and releasing them into American communities.
“The previous administration counted these arrests, even though no immigration enforcement action was taken,” Lyons said.
As a result of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, ICE has filled 47,600 detention beds and is requesting additional funding from Congress, as well as seeking assistance from other local and federal agencies with existing capacity.
In an effort to save resources, the Trump administration has asked illegal immigrants to “self-deport” through the new CBP Home app.
ICE has released an undisclosed number of migrants from custody due to “serious medical conditions or other humanitarian factors,” according to officials.
Migrants are released with tracking devices, such as ankle monitors.
Nonetheless, officials claim they are not practicing “catch and release.”
According to officials, the more than 32,000 migrants apprehended by ICE under Trump include 1,155 suspected gang members, 44 foreign fugitives, and 29 known or suspected terrorists.