WASHINGTON — The architect of President Trump’s immigration policy is pushing ICE to dramatically ramp up the arrests — calling for 3,000 illegal migrants to be picked up per day.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem put out the figure in a meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders last week, Axios reported.
Trump’s goal of achieving the largest deportation operation in history has so far largely been focused on illegal migrants who have criminal records or deportation orders — but the push from Noem and Miller, two of the top immigration hawks in the president’s circle, suggests that the Trump administration wants to go even harder.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said at the end of April that 139,000 people had been deported in the first three months of the administration, and even more had been detained.
In January, the Trump administration gave ICE a quota of 1,800 arrests per day, but Miller reportedly urged officials at the May 21 meeting to increase arrests and deportations even more.
At that rate, 650,000 more migrants would be picked up this year. An estimated 8 million people illegally crossed the southern border during the Biden administration.
Noem also pushed for an increase in the number of arrests, but took a more measured approach, per Axios.
“Keeping President Trump’s promise to deport illegal aliens is something the administration takes seriously,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to The Post.
“We are committed to aggressively and efficiently removing illegal aliens from the United States, and ensuring our law enforcement officers have the resources necessary to do so. The safety of the American people depends upon it.”
ICE data for FY2025 shows that a high density of arrests and deportations were carried out in Texas and New Mexico — but a greater emphasis on deportations could lead to more arrests across the country, especially if the “Big Beautiful Bill” passes the Senate, which allots an extra $147 billion for border funding.
Border crossings have dropped dramatically since Trump ended Biden’s catch-and-release approach, instructing ICE agents to be more aggressive in their arrests and ending the CBP One app that allowed migrants to come across the border by registering themselves on their phones.
Instead, DHS changed the CBP One app to instruct migrants to self-deport. Trump has also offered illegal migrants a voucher and a plane ticket to leave the country.
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