A major part of President Donald Trump's campaign platform included reducing the number of migrants living illegally in the United States.

The evidence suggests that Trump is delivering on that pledge, with the president having ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to triple its daily arrest figures.  

ICE arrest quota raised

The order was outlined by Axios, which reported this week that the daily arrest quota for ICE agents has gone up from 1,000 to 3,000.

The website previously reported earlier this year that White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem both advocated for increased arrest quotas during a May 21 meeting at ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Axios also cited data compiled by the University of California Berkeley School of Law showing that although arrests of all kinds went up in June, the spike in arrests of migrants without a criminal background rose most of all.

As of June 26 (the last date for which information is available), approximately 42% of individuals who were taken into custody by ICE lacked either an arrest record or criminal conviction in the United States.

That represents a significant change from the month prior, when migrants with at least one prior criminal conviction represented the largest group of those apprehended.

"False narrative" alleged

However, that characterization of events has been disputed by Tricia McLaughlin, who serves as assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.

McLaughlin maintains that many of those who lack an arrest record or convictions in the U.S. nevertheless have a criminal background in their home nations.

ICE arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions surged in June, newly obtained data shows https://t.co/jtaCVOuyJX

— Axios (@axios) July 17, 2025

"The media continues to peddle this FALSE narrative that ICE is not targeting criminal illegal aliens," she said in a statement provided to Axios.

Home nation convictions cited

"The official data tells the true story: 70% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges," McLaughlin asserted.

"Additionally, many illegal aliens categorized as 'non-criminals' are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gang members and more -- they just don't have a rap sheet in the U.S.," she continued.

The Trump administration official then went on to complain that "[t]his deceptive 'non-criminal' categorization is devoid of reality and misleads the American public."