ICE booked more than 43,000 people into immigration detention in June 2026, the highest monthly total since President Trump returned to office, according to ICE data released this month.

The uptick follows increased pressure from the White House on ICE to raise arrests, with agents told to target 2,000 arrests per day, sources inside ICE said earlier this year.

June's arrests averaged 1,438 per day. Data from the first 11 days of July averaged 1,593 per day. Both fall short of that daily target. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE does not have arrest quotas.

What drove the June surge?

Monthly arrest totals had dipped after Operation Metro Surge, the Minnesota crackdown, wound down in February. The average detained population had fallen from a January peak of about 72,000 to roughly 58,200 in May.

The detained population climbed back to about 59,400 in June and reached more than 65,600 across the first 11 days of July, the ICE data shows.

"ICE isn't leaving the streets at all," border czar Tom Homan said on Fox News.

Homan attributed the earlier drop to the Department of Homeland Security funding standoff earlier this year. "Numbers were down for a few months because the department was shut down," he told reporters after the interview.

How is the detained population shifting?

People without criminal records drove most of the change in the detained population this year. Last year, as the detention population surged, those without criminal records became the fastest-growing group in ICE detention.

The non-criminal detained population fell 36% during the first five months of 2026, while those with criminal convictions dropped 3% and those with pending charges fell 7%.

From May to June, the non-criminal population grew 3% and those with criminal records grew 1%. The first 11 days of July show a sharper shift: the non-criminal detained average jumped 20% from June, from nearly 22,000 to just over 26,000. Convicted and pending-charge detainees each rose 5% over the same span.

Key ICE detention figures:

• January peak: ~72,000 total
• May average: ~58,200
• June average: ~59,400
• First 11 days of July: ~65,600
• July 11: 29% with criminal convictions, 31% with pending criminal charges

DHS calls arrests of people who were not the original targets of an operation "collateral" arrests, and those detained this way often lack any criminal record. The two men fatally shot by ICE officers during vehicle stops this month — one in Texas, one in Maine — were both collateral arrestees.

"When it comes to immigration enforcement, the majority of people we are arresting, despite the lies being told by the left, are criminals," Homan said in his Fox News interview.

What has the administration said?

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin told reporters Friday that arrests are "hitting single-day records every single day."

"I've turned down the temperature of the stove to try to get it correct without boiling over," he said. "When I say turn down the temperature, I turn down the temperature with you guys. We're turning up the heat on the streets. We're out there working harder than we ever have because we've empowered our law enforcement to do their job."

What changed after the shootings?

ICE ordered officers to pause most vehicle stops after the fatal shootings in Texas and Maine. President Trump reversed the order the same day on Truth Social, calling vehicle stops one of the agency's "most important and effective Crime Fighting tools."

"The president made it clear this morning: He wants ICE out there doing their job, and that's what's gonna happen," Homan told the Center for Immigration Studies on July 15.

What to watch

The next ICE data release will show whether July's 1,593 daily average holds and whether the non-criminal share of the detained population keeps climbing toward the levels reached during last year's surge.