ICE crackdown sees 7,400 illegal migrants arrested in 9 days
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested more than 7,400 people in nine days across several states amid its aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration since the new Trump administration came into office.
ICE officers have been seen carrying out raids of homes, work sites, and other establishments, while deportations have also ramped up, with the Trump administration also vowing to send the most violent migrants to Guantánamo Bay.
According to a compilation of daily totals of arrests, as of Jan. 31, ICE has so far arrested 7,412 people who the agency says are in the country illegally. The agency says that nearly 6,000 ICE detainers have been placed on individuals.
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ICE has posted nine daily arrest totals to X and has also posted details from various raids across sanctuary cities like New York City, Chicago and Boston where they have scooped up illegals accused of sex crimes against minors, rapes, guns and drug offenses, while violent gang members belonging to Tren de Aragua and MS-13 have also been taken off the streets.
Border czar Tom Homan has said the administration is currently only targeting violent illegal aliens while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees ICE, says federal immigration authorities are arresting the “worst of the worst” in raids. She says the streets are now safer as a result.
Many of the ICE raids have been carried out alongside other federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Noem joined an immigration enforcement raid in New York City Tuesday morning in which officers picked up Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, an alleged ringleader of the violent Tren de Aragua gang. Zambrano-Pacheco is the same man caught on camera in a viral video showing heavily armed men kicking down an apartment door at an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, last summer.
Luis Adolfo Guerra Perez, 19, a Guatemalan citizen and MS-13 gang member, was arrested by ICE in Massachusetts last week. He was facing state gun charges and had previously been ordered to be deported before he was released by a Boston court.
ICE has published details of more than 60 cases while the White House X account has posted details of at least 20 others.
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However, for the vast majority of the 7,412, details on their criminal histories are not yet available.
The arrests total come as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed that the “worst of the worst” criminal migrants will be temporarily housed at Guantánamo Bay detention camp and that “all options will be on the table” for military action against the cartels.
Hegseth made the announcement in an interview with “Fox and Friends” on Friday and it came on the heels of an announcement made by President Donald Trump on Wednesday that he will be instructing the Pentagon to prepare Guantánamo Bay to detain 30,000 “criminal illegal aliens.”
“Today I’m also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantánamo Bay,” Trump said. “Most people don’t even know about it.”
It was later learned that Trump signed a presidential memorandum, not an executive order, on the matter.
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News of the arrests has been generally well-received by locals living in these areas.
Ramses Frías, a local Queens activist who’s voiced concerns over a crime crisis gripping his neighborhood, which is partially represented by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said the raids have also been warmly received by the community.
“Many residents, from immigrants to citizens, welcome ICE coming in and taking the criminals out of these communities,” Frías, a city council candidate, told Fox News Digital. “They welcome law and order and want safe streets.”
However, not everyone agreed with the raids and Mayor Brandon Johnson recently “reaffirmed” his commitment to keep Chicago a sanctuary city, as did Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.