ICE detentions spiked in June, targeting immigrants with no criminal records, new data show
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Set us as preferred Immigrants without criminal records make up 74% of the average daily population in California detention centers and 79% nationwide, according to data released this week by U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The data shed light on how immigration detention has ebbed and flowed so far in 2026.More than 43,000 people were booked into detention centers nationwide in June, the highest recorded since President Trump returned to office, the data show.
Detentions had slowed since ICE launched large-scale raids across the country, including in Los Angeles in June 2025.But detentions ramped up in late spring as Trump fast-tracked asylum cases, sowing confusion in immigration courtrooms as judges were forced to process up to 100 people or more in a single day.
Many respondents missed their hearings and were issued default orders of removal.The number of detainees booked in June was over 2% higher than the previous record of 42,107 in December, when federal agents launched a major operation in the Twin Cities that left two U.S.
citizens dead, causing widespread outrage and prompting the Department of Homeland Security to shift its focus to the courtrooms.In the nine months between October and June, 356,389 people have been deported, compared with 319,980 deportations for the 12 prior months.ICE released the detention data on Monday after a months-long delay.
The agency is required by Congress to publish data every other week, but hadn’t since early April.The agency “has just ignored the law,” said Susan Long, co-founder of TRAC, a data gathering and research organization.
An ICE spokesperson said the delay was due to the partial government shutdown earlier this year, which closed the Department of Homeland Security for 76 days, before reopening in early May.“The best way to ensure DHS can keep the pu...