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One week into the new Trump administration, the White House is keen to show off its work on immigration enforcement so far, with raids reported across the country.
On Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrived in New York City, along with new Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, to target known migrant criminals. Other raids have been reported across the country, from Texas to Seattle to Chicago.
While deportation numbers remain unknown for now, the number of arrests made by ICE and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies has steadily increased since the end of the first week of the new administration.
Officials also highlighted deportation flights taking place, but immigration experts were quick to point out that the numbers and operations were not too dissimilar to those seen under former President Joe Biden.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump ran on a promise of mass deportations and tougher measures at the southwest border, with his border czar Tom Homan promising an increase in ICE activity as soon as the president returned to the White House. Despite potential large-scale raids in Chicago and New York City this week, smaller operations took place instead.
Americans largely support his mass deportation plans. A New York Times/Ipsos poll, carried out from January 2 to 10, found 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported "Deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records." Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken.
What To Know
More immigration enforcement activity has been publicly shared by DHS since January 20. While the Trump administration has highlighted some raids, others have been reported by other media outlets and local leaders, including in New Jersey where a U.S. veteran was among those detained in Newark on Thursday, January 23.
During Fiscal Year 2024, which ran from October 2023 through September 2024, the average daily arrest rate was 310 for ICE officers, while detainers were around 409. The previous administration did not actively post about such activity, however, and not all immigration enforcement activity is made public.
The raids seen in the first few days of the new Trump administration included the arrests of Luis Alberto Espinoza-Boconsaca in New York, who the White House said had been convicted of rape, and Cristofer Alexander Ramirez-Olivia, detained in Minnesota following a conviction for 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
Homan said in recent interviews that the focus would be on migrants who had committed serious or violent crimes, but the threats of sweeping raids have left many undocumented migrants feeling scared to leave their homes, go to work, or attend healthcare appointments.
What People Are Saying
The White House, in a post on X: "This is merely a small preview into the work the Trump administration is doing to secure our nation's borders."
David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, on X: "300 criminals (including those with pending charges) would be a routine day for ICE under Biden. But I wouldn't be shocked if they are lying about them all being criminals, and a good number are noncriminals who they care more about."
Tom Homan, on Fox News: "ICE is doing their job, and they're prioritizing, just as the president said they would. So ICE is performing excellent right now out in the field, and they're going to continue every day."
What's Next
The White House is sharing frequent updates on its immigration enforcement, with more stats from ICE and footage of work underway at the southwest border. U.S. citizens and legal residents were being warned to carry identification with them, in case they were swept up in an ICE raid or were approached by Border Patrol agents.
Update 01/27/25 12:08 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Correction: 01/28/25 4:29 p.m. ET: The spelling of Kristi Noem's name has been corrected.
About the writer
Dan Gooding is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. His focus is reporting on immigration and border security. ... Read more