The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has reached a new milestone.
According to internal figures obtained by CBS News, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is holding roughly 59,000 people in detention, likely the highest number in American history. Nearly half have no criminal record.
This record-breaking number isn’t driven by border crossings, which are at near-historic lows. The surge in detainees comes directly from the Trump administration’s policies toward migrants. Trump’s second term has been marked by a sharp rise in arrests within the United States, with over 70% of current detainees being arrested away from the border.
The total number of ICE detainees is nearly 50% more than when President Biden left office and exceeds the 41,500 detention beds funded by Congress.
While Trump has repeatedly emphasized targeting serious criminals, the latest numbers suggest ICE is casting a much wider net. Large-scale raids have triggered protests in cities like Los Angeles.
Experts and former ICE officials confirmed to CBS News that the agency is holding more people than at any prior point in its history. ICE is averaging around 1,200 arrests per day in June, with daily highs near 2,000, though still below the 3,000-per-day target set by senior administration officials like Stephen Miller.
With detention levels far exceeding the agency’s allotted funding, it remains unclear how ICE will continue to house so many people. Plans to convert military bases and build new facilities, including a recently approved Florida site dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” suggest the administration is preparing for arrests.
The overcrowding is straining facilities across the country. Detained immigrants are increasingly being transferred far from their families, due to a lack of available space. Field officers admit that detainees often spend days in temporary custody before a bed opens up elsewhere. Immigrant justice groups warn that the conditions inside these facilities are often bleak.
“It is supposed to be civil detention, but… it is a jail,” Michael Lukens of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, told NBC News in March.
At some facilities, advocates and attorneys report long delays in medical care, use of force against detainees organizing for better conditions and widespread psychological distress. Marcela Hernandez of the Detention Watch Network told Salon in April that some people are so worn down by detention that they choose deportation over putting up with the conditions.
“Detention serves as a key piece of the deportation system and is designed to be abusive so people are discouraged from fighting for their case and rights,” she said.
