US President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up its crackdown on immigrants, after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) carried out nearly 10,000 arrests in just 55 days at the end of June, at a rate of nearly 2,000 arrests per day, the largest pace the country has witnessed since the start of the mass deportation policy.
According to data published by the Associated Press and the New York Times, the administration has shifted its approach from noisy city-specific campaigns to less noisy and more widespread arrests across the United States, but more intense and impactful on the lives of migrants.
Western intelligence reports said the Department of Homeland Security justified the crackdown as targeting "criminals and dangerous people," but facts on the ground suggest that the arrests also targeted migrants who routinely checked immigration services, drove, were on their way to work or church, or while moving on the streets, sparking a new wave of fear within immigrant communities.
White House "orders" 2,000 arrests a day
According to US sources, the White House has asked immigration officials to increase the pace of arrests, with 2,000 arrests per day adopted as a new goal, and most of the agency's personnel have been directed to work 7 days a week, and about 80% of the manpower has been allocated to raids and arrests.
The sources considered that this escalation reflects the Trump administration's determination to fulfill its pledge to carry out the largest deportation campaign in US history, benefiting from an increase in the agency's budget and the hiring of thousands of new personnel, as well as judicial decisions that have strengthened the president's powers on the immigration file.
The Department of Homeland Security says its message is "clear": Anyone who enters the United States irregularly "will be found, arrested and deported", but rights groups and immigration lawyers say the policy has gone beyond prosecuting those with criminal records, to include migrants who do not face criminal charges, have open immigration files or meet their official appointments with authorities.
63,000 Detainees in Immigration Detention Centers
Recent statistics revealed that the number of detainees inside immigration detention centers has risen to more than 63,000 people, in an indication of the expansion of the arrest campaign, amid warnings of increasing pressure on detention facilities and worsening humanitarian conditions in them.
Critics of the administration argue that the shift from media campaigns to quiet daily arrests does not mean loosening the security grip, but rather makes it wider and less eye-catching, which sows fear among millions of migrants and pushes many to avoid leaving their homes, going to work, or even going to the relevant authorities, lest any routine treatment become a gateway to arrest and deportation.
Testimony from lawyers and activists in states such as Texas, Florida and Utah has confirmed that recent arrests have involved people who have been complying with immigration procedures or living in the United States for years and paying taxes, reinforcing criticism that current immigration policy is more focused on increasing the number of detainees to achieve political goals than on prosecuting those who pose a real security threat.
U.S. deportation campaign expands toward "third transit" countries
Mexico and Central American countries top the list of the most welcoming destinations for deportees in the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign, amid an unprecedented expansion of the use of "third country" agreements to transport migrants who cannot be returned to their countries of origin.
Reports and think tanks confirmed that Mexico receives the largest share by a wide margin, with more than 85 percent of those deported across land borders and daily flights heading to Mexico, followed by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, which are witnessing a steady flow of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flights, especially for migrants classified as "high-risk."
In parallel, Washington has expanded its "third countries" strategy, through security and financial agreements with more than 30 countries to receive migrants of nationalities that cannot be directly returned, such as Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Iran.
Costa Rica and Panama are emerging as key stops for regular multinational flights, according to U.S. reports, while African countries such as Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan have begun receiving hundreds of deportees under U.S. financial guarantees.
Countries such as Eswatini, Kosovo and Uzbekistan have entered the receiving line for limited groups of migrants convicted of felonies, as part of a logistical expansion that reflects the scale of the current U.S. campaign.