US arrests record number of immigrants in a single day in its history: Report

Mangalore Today News Network

United States, June 5, 2025: Amid reports of top Trump aides Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem instructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to seek to arrest 3,000 people a day, the department has made the most immigrant arrests in a single day in its history.

On Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained more than 2,200 people, according to a report by the NBC News.

The people who have been arrested had been enrolled in ICE’s Alternative to Detention (ATD) programme. Under this programme, undocumented immigrants who are not threats to public safety are kept under supervision through ankle monitors, smartphone apps or other geolocating programs, along with check-ins at ICE facilities.

Now, immigrants on ATD had been asked to show up at an ICE office, ahead of schedule, through a mass text message. However, when they arrived, they were arrested.

Seven people who had come in for check-ins were later seen in handcuffs and were put in unmarked cars. One of the detainees among these was a 30-year-old Colombian man.
Margaret Cargioli, the directing attorney at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, who represents the family, said that the man had gone “to every single [ICE] appointment. He was, you know, very cooperative with all of the requirements that were made of him.”

The situation stands at the possibility of immigrants taken into custody if they show up at an ICE facility and an automatic deportation if immigrants miss an appointment.

An ICE spokesperson said, “Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order.” However, multiple lawyers said that their clients did not have final orders of removal and still got arrested.

While Trump has promised to deport “millions”, former ICE officials say that hitting that target will not be possible for ICE. According to ICE data, 20,000 ankle monitors were in use by ICE, and 98.5% of people on ATF appear for their check-ins, making them easy targets for ICE arrests as they try to ramp up numbers.

“People are now increasingly afraid and intimidated because of the way that ICE is executing these kinds of enforcement priorities on such a widespread, indiscriminate and mass scale”, Greg Chen, senior director of government relations said.

Moreover ICE has drawn in 5,000 employees from other federal law enforcement agencies to increase arrests.

Jason Houser, who was chief of staff at ICE during the Biden administration, said that ““ICE arresting people already on Alternatives to Detention is bureaucratic theater”, as these individuals are vetted, complying and are in custody supervision, and also mostly have legal status.