ICE hits new record for monthly arrests

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Sept. 2 that arrests of illegal aliens in the U.S. have surged to a new record high, marking the third consecutive month with the highest arrests on record.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 51,000 illegal aliens in August, surpassing July’s record of 50,208 arrests, according to a DHS press release.

In a statement, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, “For the third straight month, ICE set a new record for the highest number of illegal aliens arrested in a single month, nearly 51,000. This is promises made and promises kept in action.”

“The hard-working men and women of DHS continue to break records as they defend the homeland and protect the American people,” he added. “Under President Trump’s leadership, ICE is working around the clock every day to arrest and deport illegal aliens from American communities. If you are in the country illegally, LEAVE NOW. If not, we will find you, arrest you, and deport you.”

The DHS press release encouraged illegal aliens to leave the U.S. on their own terms rather than wait to be arrested, detained, and eventually deported. The agency is offering illegal aliens a $3,000 payment and free flight tickets to their home countries or a safe third country.

“Being in detention is a choice,” the DHS statement said. “We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”

The new record comes shortly after DHS confirmed that approximately 3 million illegal aliens have either been removed or have left the U.S. voluntarily since President Donald Trump took office in 2025.

The DHS X account said in a post, “The men and women of ICE are NOT slowing down — we will continue ARRESTING and DEPORTING illegal aliens like these from our nation.”

The DHS statistics are in line with numbers from a Sept. 3 Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) report, which found that the number of foreign nationals in the U.S. decreased by at least 2.9 million between January 2025 and July 2026. The CIS statistics include naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents, long-term temporary visitors, and illegal aliens.

“Since January 2025 the foreign-born population has fallen by 2.9 million through July 2026. A decline of this size means net migration must have been negative in the last year,” wrote CIS research director Steven Camarota and Demographer Karen Zeigler.

“Further, despite fluctuations in the size of the foreign-born population, the clear upward trend followed by a dramatic downward trend does track well with changes in the nation’s immigration policies,” they continued, “from a highly permissive approach to immigration during the Biden administration to the more restrictive policies during the second Trump administration.”

Camarota and Zeigler noted that the decrease of approximately 3 million foreign nationals is only representative of the “net change” in the foreign-born population. Removals and departures are offset by new arrivals, such as lawful permanent residents, long-term non-immigrant visitors, and refugees, so that the number of removals and voluntary departures is likely higher than the nearly 3 million found in the CIS study.

One of the most successful ICE operations this year was “Operation Bad Apple,” targeting “sanctuary” jurisdiction in New York City. Between July 27 and Aug. 29, ICE arrested nearly 2,200 illegal aliens, including those charged with or convicted of murder, rape, child sex crimes, drug trafficking, and other violent crimes.

According to DHS, the “sanctuary” policies in both the state of New York and New York City have been responsible for releasing more than 13,600 illegal aliens from jails onto the streets.

Unlike under previous presidential administrations, the number of arrests reported by DHS almost all come from the U.S. interior. While former president Joe Biden and his administration artificially inflated the reported number of deportations by including expedited removals at the U.S. border or ports of entry, the Trump administration has seen U.S. border encounters reach record lows, accounting for almost none of the arrests reported by DHS.