Federal immigration authorities arrested over 10,000 people across the United States within a five-day period following a directive from the White House to ramp up enforcement operations, sources told ABC News on Thursday.
The surge came after recent Supreme Court rulings favored the administration's immigration policies.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials were instructed to maintain a new benchmark of at least 2,000 daily arrests, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times.
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson confirmed that nearly 70% of those detained had prior criminal charges or convictions in the United States.
“Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump’s promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Broader Deportation Goals
The operation aligns with a broader agency objective to deport 1 million people annually and hold at least 99,000 detainees daily in specialized facilities during the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years.
Marcos Charles, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations executive associate director, thanked agents in a message: “I want to personally thank each of you for your extraordinary efforts this past weekend.
Through your dedication, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to our mission, enforcement and removal operations achieved remarkable operational results.”
The enforcement wave escalated sharply after the Supreme Court permitted the administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals from Haiti and Syria, enabling officials to plan the deportation of 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians.
