_WHAT’S HAPPENING_
The Trump administration's deportation campaign has entered a new phase, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests surging and various metrics such as self-deportations rising.
Federal officials have doubled daily arrest rates, targeting not just recent border crossers but illegals who have lived in the US for years, including minors and those who entered the country as unaccompanied children.
_THE FACTS_
ICE arrested more than 10,000 people in five days at the end of June, roughly double their earlier rates.
The agency's detention population has jumped nearly 4,000, now exceeding 63,000 people in custody.
White House officials have set a new standard of 2,000 arrests per day, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.
Unaccompanied minors are being detained and removed at three times the rate seen during Trump's first term.
Immigration courts have issued more than 10,000 removal orders for minors each month, nearly four times the rate of his previous administration.
A Washington Post report shows that migrants with no convictions now make up the largest group being removed.
ICE is opening new facilities to keep pace with arrests, including a planned processing center in San Antonio with capacity up to 1,500 individuals.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed in January that 1.9–2.2 million illegals have self-deported since Trump took office, for a total of nearly 3 million when combined with formal deportations.
_OUR TAKE_
The current approach to deportations is far better than the previous one. Under DHS Sec. Kristi Noem, ICE operated with extreme boldness in front of the cameras to show Americans the work being done. These operations, however, are messy, and Americans don’t like looking at them. Noem wanted the media attention, but in the process, turned many against ICE.
Now, the agency is operating more quietly, and instead of showing up loudly in major cities, they are focusing on a steady pace of arrests with less media spectacle. The increase in daily arrests is a welcome sign, as is keeping a low profile.
