A Guardian data analysis provides a detailed picture of surging arrests and a detention system that’s stretched beyond capacity
In the six months since Donald Trump took office, the US president has supercharged the country’s immigration enforcement apparatus – pushing immigration officials to arrest a record number of people in June.
A Guardian analysis of arrest and deportation data has revealed that Trump is now overseeing a sweeping mass arrest and incarceration scheme.
In June this year, average daily arrests were up 268% compared with June 2024.
Ice is increasingly targeting any and all unauthorized immigrants, including people who have no criminal records.
Despite Trump’s claims that his administration is seeking out the “worst of the worst”, the majority of people being arrested by Ice now have no criminal convictions.
Detention facilities have been increasingly overcrowded, and the US system is over capacity by more than 13,500 people.
The number of deportations, however, has fluctuated as the administration pursues new strategies and policies to swiftly expel people from the US.
The US government has deported more than 8,100 people to countries that are not their home country.