ICE Arrests Hit a Record High in July 2026, and Most of Those Arrested Had No Criminal Record

For years, immigration officials have said their enforcement priority is “the worst of the worst,” meaning immigrants with serious criminal convictions. New federal data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley and UCLA, and independently tracked by TRAC at Syracuse University, tells a very different story.

In July 2026, ICE arrested more people without any criminal record than in any previous month of the current administration, and for the first time, people with only civil immigration violations made up the majority of everyone arrested.

The Numbers Tell a Different Story

ICE arrested an average of more than 800 people without criminal records every day in July 2026, a record high for this administration. Total daily arrests averaged more than 1,580 in July, also the highest so far, as the White House pushes ICE toward a stated goal of 2,000 arrests per day. July was also the first month since President Trump returned to office when people with only civil immigration violations, not pending criminal charges or convictions, made up more than half of everyone arrested.

Despite those numbers, violent crime is rare among the people swept up in this enforcement. Only about 4% of people arrested in July had convictions for violent crimes, and only about 6% of everyone booked into ICE detention under this administration has one. Separate data from TRAC at Syracuse University confirms the pattern: as of July 11, 2026, ICE was holding 65,765 people in detention, and 70.6% of them, more than 46,000 people, had no criminal conviction at all.

These numbers describe parents, coworkers, and neighbors: people who came into contact with immigration enforcement while driving to work, attending a required check-in, or simply being present when agents made an arrest nearby.

What Officials Say vs. What the Data Shows

Officials continue to describe enforcement as targeted. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CBS News that many people counted as “non-criminals” are actually dangerous individuals who simply lack a U.S. criminal record. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said publicly that if local law enforcement cooperates more with ICE, agents will focus on “the worst of the worst” and communities will see less enforcement activity.

But the data collected in June and July does not support that narrower approach. Nearly half of all ICE arrests in those two months, more than 45,300, happened out in the community, not through a jail or prison handoff. That distinction matters: an arrest inside a jail usually means someone was already in custody on a separate charge, while a community arrest, at a check-in, during a traffic stop, or simply nearby, can happen to anyone regardless of criminal history.

It Is Not Just “Sanctuary” Cities

The administration has argued that aggressive enforcement is a response to local governments that limit cooperation with ICE, but again, the June and July data negates that argument:

• Sanctuary jurisdictions saw street arrests rise 27% during those two months compared with the previous six.
• Non-sanctuary jurisdictions saw a larger increase, 50%, over the same period.

Some sanctuary cities still saw dramatic spikes of their own. Community arrests near San Ysidro, California, were more than six times higher in June and July than in prior months, and arrests doubled in Denver and in Newark, New Jersey. In Florida, where state law requires local police to cooperate with ICE, street arrests in June and July were nearly four times the average of the prior six months. In Texas, community arrests tripled in both El Paso and Austin.

How These Arrests Are Happening

Much of the increase is not coming from large, publicized raids. Instead, agents are increasingly making arrests during everyday encounters: traffic stops, airport arrests, and routine immigration check-ins where someone shows up expecting a routine appointment.

At the same time, ICE keeps expanding a program called 287(g), which trains and authorizes local police officers to make immigration arrests themselves, not just ICE agents. More than 1,850 city, county, and state agencies now participate, and the federal government has set aside $1.15 billion to keep growing the program through September 2027.

Together, these two shifts, more everyday encounters and more local police empowered to act as ICE agents, help explain why so many people with no criminal history at all are being swept into the system.

The One Thing Worth Doing Before Your Next Check-In

Having no criminal record does not mean you are safe from enforcement right now. If you have a routine ICE check-in, a court date, or any other required appearance coming up, the single most protective step you can take is not going alone: bring your immigration attorney with you. An attorney present at a check-in can intervene in real time, document what happens, and immediately alert your family if something goes wrong, even when a case looks straightforward on paper.

If you do not yet have representation, do not wait for a problem to arise before you get it. Every case is different, and only a legal consultation can give you a real strategy to fight your case.

Sources: CBS News (August 27, 2026), TRAC Immigration Data Clearinghouse (August 2026), and the Deportation Data Project, UC Berkeley and UCLA (August 2026).