ICE arrests drop nearly 12% after Minneapolis killings and policy shake-up

Immigration and Customs Enforcement saw a decline in arrests at the height of crackdowns nationwide connected to immigration enforcement efforts by the Trump administration.

The killings in Minneapolis of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration officers in late January and concerns over the federal government’s tactics resulted in changes of top immigration officials. In the ensuing weeks, ICE arrests in the U.S. fell on average by almost 12%.

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Citing data from UC Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project, the Associated Press reported that in December 2025, arrests by ICE agents surged to almost 40,000 nationwide and were almost as high the following month.

ICE arrests in the U.S.

By the numbers:

ICE arrest records obtained by The Associated Press find that the agency averaged 7,369 weekly arrests nationwide in the five weeks after Border Czar Tom Homan's drawdown announcement of immigration agents in Minnesota on Feb. 4., representing the most recent period for which data is available, down from 8,347 weekly in the previous five weeks. 

According to the AP, ICE arrests varied across the country, with arrests climbing substantially in Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, and Florida during those five weeks. In Kentucky, weekly arrests more than doubled, jumping to 86 in early March.

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In the U.S., about 46% of the individuals ICE arrested in the five weeks before Feb. 4 had no criminal charges or convictions, falling to 41% in the five weeks that followed. However, in several states, even after Feb. 4, the number of noncriminals being arrested increased.

The Trump administration contends that the federal government is targeting the worst criminals living illegally in the U.S., and in some cases that is factual, but most of the toughest criminals taken into ICE custody were already in jail, but many others who were arrested have no criminal history, the AP noted.