These ICE field offices in the NYC area reportedly have daily arrest goals: Map
NEW YORK CITY - President Donald Trump's administration is pushing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase the number of arrests per day from a few hundred to between at least 1,200 to 1,500 people, according to a report on Monday.
The Washington Post and FOX News reported about a weekend call among internal ICE officials during which each ICE field office was told to aim for around 75 arrests per day.
The White House rejected the characterization of "quotas" but when asked about the report, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital, "’goals’ is the correct phrasing."
Location of ICE field offices
![ICE field office map](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox5ny.com/www.fox5ny.com/content/uploads/2025/01/932/524/ice-offices.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
ICE has 25 field offices spread out across the U.S. Each office covers an "area of responsibility" with the help of a total of 181 sub-field offices and other outposts. Separately, the agency has 155 detention facilities nationwide, with large clusters in the South and Midwest.
PDF: See the full-size map of ICE locations
Where ICE raids are happening
The backstory:
President Trump made border security, crime, and illegal immigration a central part of his campaign, and he kicked off a mass deportation campaign just days after taking office.
His series of executive orders directed the federal government to "employ all lawful means to ensure the faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States against all inadmissible and removable aliens."
Raids have been taking place for several days, mostly concentrated in cities with ICE field offices like New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, though some have taken place elsewhere.
By the numbers:
ICE said it made an average of 710 immigration arrests daily from Thursday through Monday, up from a daily average of 311 in a 12-month period through September under President Joe Biden. If that rate holds, it would surpass ICE's previous high mark set in the Obama administration, when daily arrests averaged 636 in 2013.
According to ICE’s daily updates:
- Sunday, January 26: 956 arrests
- Monday, January 27: 1,179 arrests
- Tuesday, January 28: 969 arrests
- Wednesday, January 29: 1,016 arrests
What they're saying:
"These are the heinous individuals that this administration is removing from American communities every single day," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in her first briefing Tuesday. "And to the brave state and local law enforcement officers, CBP and ICE agents who are helping in the facilitation of this deportation operation, President Trump has your back, and he is grateful for your hard work."
Dig deeper:
According to Pew Research Center:
- The U.S. recorded a record-breaking foreign born population of 47.3 million in 2023, meaning immigrants account for 14.3% of the population.
- As of 2022, 77% of the immigrants in this country were here legally, with 49% becoming naturalized citizens.
- About 23% are unauthorized immigrants, and other 4% are legal temporary residents.
What we don't know:
ICE says many of the deported migrants were suspected or convicted of violent crimes. But the total percentage is unclear, along with whether they were being investigated before Trump took office. Specific details on all the arrests were not disclosed.
The other side:
Democrats say the Trump administration is making monsters out of people who are just trying to seek better lives for themselves and their families. MSNBC's Rev. Al Sharpton called Trump's immigration orders a civil liberties "nightmare" on Friday. He also suggested that the recent ICE raids were racist and gave leeway for agents to abuse migrants.
Lesly Ramírez, a deportee aboard a flight to Guatemala, told the Associated Press that she climbed the border fence and had been walking in the U.S. for two hours before the Border Patrol picked her up on Friday.
"We’re all human beings," the 35-year-old single mother of two said. "We were going to work, we’re not criminals."
The Source: Information in this story came from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s website and social media channels, along with statements from the White House. The Associated Press, FOX 5 New York's Michael Stallone and FOX News Digital's Danielle Wallace contributed, along with previous FOX Television Stations reporting.