Exclusive: ICE agents told to ramp up daily immigration arrests despite GOP unease as midterms near

Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership told agents nationwide on Tuesday to increase immigration arrests by 1,000 more people daily, returning to a previous goal of 3,000 daily arrests, according to two sources familiar with the verbal directive.

It’s the latest sign of ongoing pressure on agents as the Trump administration doubles down on its immigration crackdown despite some Republican unease over who the agency is targeting. ICE also recently released a contract solicitation to expand holding space at agency offices, citing “exceptionally high operational tempo with increased arrests.”

With the directive on daily arrests, ICE returns to a previous White House imposed push to arrest 3,000 people a day, an unprecedented number that the agency has previously struggled to meet. ICE had recently been taking around 2,000 people into custody daily on average — a target that officials wanted to sustain.

They were also instructed to try to reach 19,000 arrests per week, which accounts for the fact that there are generally fewer arrests over the weekend and not as many officers in the field, one of the sources said. The source stressed that the agency is trying to push officers to arrest as many people as possible for deportation. As a point of comparison, in late June, ICE arrested just over 12,500 people in a week, according to the Deportation Data project , marking a high point.

In a statement to CNN, a Homeland Security spokesperson maintained that there are “NO quotas on arrests.”

“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin’s leadership, ICE has been supercharged to find, arrest, and deport illegal aliens from the United States using every lawful tool available. This is promises made promises kept in action, and the results speak for themselves,” the spokesperson said.

Immigration remains a key political issue for the White House ahead of the midterm elections, and administration officials have been sensitive to any potential changes in operations that appear to weaken the president’s approach to his mass deportation pledge. That has occasionally fueled tensions between the Department of Homeland Security and the White House.

But some Republicans have criticized the administration’s tactics and decision to increasingly arrest undocumented immigrants without criminal records. Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, who represents a heavily Hispanic district, recently broke with the president in a campaign ad ahead of the midterms.

The agriculture industry, which generally leans Republican, also recently raised alarm over an uptick in ICE activity that temporarily disrupted their operations.

‘It’s been chaotic’: Trump’s immigration crackdown prompts worries from industry groups

Immigration arrests had already been increasing. In August, for example, ICE took around 51,000 people into custody, setting a new monthly high for the Trump administration. The previous high had been set just one month prior when the agency arrested more than 46,000 people.

Senior Trump officials have repeatedly denied that agents are required to meet arrest quotas, describing the push as a goal, and maintained that agents aren’t punished if they fail to meet that goal.

“I have never talked to anybody at the White House about any quota. We do our job every single day and we do it effectively,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on CNN’s “Inside Politics” last month. “Our focus is to go after the worst of the worst, but when we make contact with an illegal, regardless of how many years you’ve been here, we are obligated by statute to at that point arrest you.”

The continued ramp up in immigration arrests has required additional support from contractors. Last month, a contract solicitation reviewed by CNN revealed that the department is seeking contractors to build three different types of temporary facilities meant to help alleviate strain at existing facilities.

“Temporary infrastructure is urgently needed to expand secure processing and holding of illegal alien (IA) capacity and non-detained hearing space on site,” the solicitation states.

They include a field-detention unit, a room for interviews and processing, and a facility intended to be used for virtual immigration court hearings. A Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency has “no new facility plans to announce at this time.”

The agency has also adjusted some of the ways it is conducting operations, including vehicle stops.

Last week, ICE officers were told that they’d only be allowed to conduct vehicle stops if they have completed related training courses and must ensure that vehicles used for stops are equipped with lights and sirens, according to internal guidance reviewed by CNN.

The memo, which a senior ICE official said amended previous guidance, came on the heels of multiple controversial vehicle stops that have resulted in fatal, and non-fatal, shootings and against the backdrop of internal tension within the Trump administration over how to proceed with the stops, which the administration considers a key tool as it increases immigration arrests.

At the time, an ICE spokesperson denied in a statement that the guidance was new, saying: “Occasionally, ICE leadership issues guidance reminders to law enforcement officers.” The spokesperson maintained that vehicle stops will continue and the memo “makes no changes to how ICE conducts vehicle stops.”

据两名熟悉该口头指令的消息人士透露，美国移民和海关执法局领导层周二指示全国各地的执法人员每天增加 1000 名移民逮捕人数，恢复到之前每天逮捕 3000 人的目标。

这是特朗普政府加大移民打击力度，尽管一些共和党人对该机构的打击目标感到不安，但该机构仍持续施压的最新迹象。美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）最近还发布了一份合同招标书，旨在扩大其办公场所的拘留空间，理由是“行动节奏异常繁忙，逮捕人数增加”。

随着每日逮捕人数指令的出台，美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）重新执行了白宫此前强加的每日逮捕3000人的目标，这是一个前所未有的数字，该机构此前一直难以达到。ICE近期平均每日逮捕约2000人——官员们希望维持这一目标。

消息人士称，他们还被指示力争每周逮捕19000人，这考虑到了周末逮捕人数通常较少以及一线警力不足的情况。该消息人士强调，该机构正努力敦促警员尽可能多地逮捕人员以进行遣返。作为对比，根据“遣返数据项目”（Deportation Data project）的数据，6月下旬，美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）一周内逮捕了12500多人，创下历史新高。

国土安全部发言人在接受 CNN 采访时坚称，“逮捕人数没有配额”。

发言人表示：“在特朗普总统和穆林部长的领导下，美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）被赋予了极大的权力，利用一切合法手段搜寻、逮捕和驱逐非法移民。这是兑现承诺的行动，结果不言而喻。”

在即将到来的中期选举中，移民问题仍然是白宫关注的关键政治议题。政府官员对任何可能削弱总统大规模驱逐出境承诺的政策变动都保持高度警惕。这有时会导致国土安全部与白宫之间的紧张关系。

但一些共和党人批评了政府的策略和决定，即越来越多地逮捕没有犯罪记录的非法移民。佛罗里达州众议员玛丽亚·埃尔维拉·萨拉查代表着一个以西班牙裔为主的选区，她在最近一次中期选举前的竞选广告中公开反对总统的立场。

农业界（通常倾向于共和党）最近也对美国移民及海关执法局 (ICE) 活动增多表示担忧，因为这暂时扰乱了他们的运营。

“一片混乱”：特朗普的移民政策打击引发行业团体担忧

移民逮捕人数此前已呈上升趋势。例如，8月份，美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）拘留了约5.1万人，创下特朗普政府上任以来的单月逮捕人数新高。而此前的最高纪录仅在一个月前创下，当时该机构逮捕了超过4.6万人。

特朗普政府高级官员一再否认执法人员必须完成逮捕配额，称这是执法人员的目标，并坚称即使执法人员未能完成该目标也不会受到惩罚。

“我从未与白宫任何人谈论过任何配额。我们每天都在尽职尽责地工作，而且工作效率很高，”国土安全部长马克韦恩·穆林上个月在CNN的“内幕政治”节目中表示。“我们的重点是抓捕最恶劣的非法移民，但当我们接触到非法移民时，无论你在这里待了多少年，我们都必须依法逮捕你。”

移民逮捕行动的持续升级需要承包商提供更多支持。上个月，CNN查阅的一份合同招标书显示，该部门正在寻找承包商建造三种不同类型的临时设施，旨在缓解现有设施的压力。

招标书中写道：“急需临时基础设施来扩大对非法移民的安全处理和拘留能力，以及现场非拘留听证空间。”

这些设施包括一个现场拘留单元、一个用于面谈和处理的房间，以及一个用于虚拟移民法庭听证会的设施。国土安全部发言人表示，该机构“目前没有新的设施计划可以宣布”。

该机构还调整了一些开展行动的方式，包括车辆拦截。

据 CNN 查阅的内部指导文件显示，上周，美国移民及海关执法局 (ICE) 官员被告知，只有在完成相关培训课程后才能进行车辆拦截，并且必须确保用于拦截的车辆配备警示灯和警报器。

一位美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）高级官员表示，这份备忘录修改了之前的指导方针。此前，多起备受争议的车辆拦截事件导致了致命和非致命的枪击事件。与此同时，特朗普政府内部也因如何进行拦截而产生紧张关系，而政府认为拦截是其增加移民逮捕的关键工具。

当时，美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）发言人在一份声明中否认该指导意见是新发布的，并表示：“ICE领导层偶尔会向执法人员发布指导意见提醒。”该发言人坚持认为，车辆拦截执法将继续进行，该备忘录“不会改变ICE进行车辆拦截执法的方式”。