Trump Immigration Detentions Slow Amid Rising ICE Frustration

President Donald Trump’s immigration detentions ticked down after a fast start in his first few days in office.

Detentions totaled 8,200 during the two weeks ending Feb. 22, according to federal data published last week. That compared with about 10,000 in the previous two-week period, which roughly corresponded with the beginning of the Trump administration.

The pace of detentions has frustrated senior officials, prompting shakeups within Immigration and Customs Enforcement even as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other leaders have touted their get-tough approach. Shortly after Trump took office Jan. 20, ICE invited media crews and television personality Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, to accompany agents on immigration raids.

Still, detentions during the new administration’s first month more than doubled compared with the average during the final year of the Biden administration. The data analyzed by Bloomberg covers people held in detention facilities, which doesn’t account for all arrests.

As of Feb. 22, ICE held 43,759 people in detention facilities. That’s 5.4% higher than the funded capacity of 41,500 beds, reflecting the stepped-up detentions so far under the Trump administration.

Trump has vowed to carry out the largest deportations in US history and strengthen immigration enforcement. A steadily higher pace of detentions may take time to materialize as officials plan more enforcement operations, which can take days or weeks to prepare for.

The administration has also deployed active-duty military troops to the border and deputized agents from the Justice Department, Internal Revenue Service and elsewhere to work with ICE on deportations. Trump has also dispatched military planes to carry out deportation flights to Central and South America, and to ferry detainees to the US naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Under Trump, ICE has blamed leaks about planned raids for stymieing efforts to ramp up detentions. Administration officials have said they’re arresting and deporting the “worst of the worst” of people with criminal records, while declining repeated requests for a complete list of the names of those arrested and details of their alleged offenses.

Arrests at the southwest border have plummeted, extending a trend that started in June after former President Joe Biden limited which foreigners could apply for asylum. During one day in February, fewer than 200 people were caught crossing the border, DHS said. Daily border arrests ranged as high as 10,000 under Biden.

People jailed by ICE are spending less time in detention before being deported or released while their case is decided. Since Trump took office, the average number of days they’ve spent in detention has dropped to 41 from 51 as the administration looks to speed up deportations.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Alicia A. Caldwell in Los Angeles at acaldwell54@bloomberg.net;
Elena Mejia in New York at emejialutz@bloomberg.net;
Jason Kao in New York at jkao52@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sarah McGregor at smcgregor5@bloomberg.net

Brendan Case, Alex Newman

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