Deportations from ICE street arrests jump, study says. Here’s why.
The Trump administration has significantly increased deportations, arresting mostly immigrants without criminal records on American streets, according to a new report.
Report from the Extraterritorial Data ProjectPublished on January 27, it shows the far-reaching effects of US Immigration and Enforcement tactics within US borders. Deportations resulting from ICE arrests increased fourfold, while street arrests alone increased 11fold.
“The pressure is bigger than it seems,” David Hausman, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley and co-director of the Deportation Data Project, a repository of federal immigration enforcement data, told USA TODAY. He noted large increases in apprehensions in the United States, which are often associated with arrests at the border, which have decreased dramatically under Trump.
Instead of detaining specific individuals or people convicted of crimes, ICE appeared to be arresting any undocumented people it could in American communities, according to the report’s authors.
“When we traced the sources of this increase, we realized it all started with ICE becoming less targeted for arrests,” said Graeme Blair, a professor of political science and director of political studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Extraterritorial Data Projecthe said in a statement.
“Now ICE is doing something new,” he said. “He seems to be arresting everyone he can.”
USA TODAY has reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
The Trump administration has repeatedly touted the deportation figures. Authorities have repeatedly encouraged people to “deport themselves” rather than proceeding to the detention system. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller previously said: ICE had a minimum goal of 3,000 arrests daily.
The new report, based on the most recent data available from Trump’s inauguration to Oct. 15, appears to show the sweeping effects of immigration enforcement tactics that some critics have described as indiscriminate. The Trump administration has sent federal agents to many American cities as part of its promise to deport millions of immigrants.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrest a man for failing to provide documentation proving he is a U.S. citizen while patrolling a neighborhood during immigration enforcement activities in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 11, 2026. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on the streets of Minneapolis on January 7; This led to massive protests and anger from the local population. Leaders who reject the White House claim he is a domestic terrorist.
The report showed that overall arrests on the streets increased 11-fold compared to the monthly average in the six months before Trump’s second inauguration, while transfers from prisons to ICE custody roughly doubled. The number of people arrested without any criminal convictions increased sevenfold.
“It would be fair to suggest a new kind of randomness in ICE arrests,” Hausman said.
Federal authorities have tripled the number of detention beds used to detain immigrants within the country, the report said. The increased capacity is a product of new funding approved by Congress and directed to immigration enforcement, while apprehensions at the border have decreased significantly.
Very few of those arrested were released; This was based on already low numbers before Trump’s second administration. Over the past few months Joe BidenDuring Trump’s presidency, the release rate of those deported within two months was around 16% in 2024. But in Trump’s first nine months in 2025, that rate dropped to 3%.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller watch U.S. President Donald Trump speak with reporters as he boards Marine One before departing from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 15, 2025. Trump is going to Canada to attend the G7 summit.
According to researchers, data shows that more and more people are giving up on deportation and accepting deportation. The lower eviction rate could contribute to a 21-fold increase in voluntary departures.
The Deportation Data Project obtained the ICE datasets through Immigration Freedom Act litigation. Hausman said researchers are working to obtain updated data.
This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Deportations resulting from ICE street arrests are increasing, study says. Here’s why.
