In a significant escalation of immigration enforcement activities, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported arresting a record-breaking 49,571 individuals in July 2023, marking the highest monthly count since President Donald Trump resumed office for his second term. This figure represents a substantial 15% increase over June's numbers and approximately 70% above February's total, according to data provided by ICE to the Deportation Data Project based at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles, and analyzed by The Associated Press. Prior to Trump's return to the White House in January 2025, monthly arrests hovered around 8,000, primarily composed of immigrants transferred from city or state jails and prisons. The surge in arrests began shortly after Trump's inauguration, with officials easing restrictions on who and where agents could target. By December 2023, monthly arrests had surpassed 40,000. Following two fatal shootings in Minnesota in January that sparked protests and criticism from Democratic lawmakers, arrests declined in February but then resurged in June and July. Approximately 19,000 of the July arrests occurred in Texas and Florida, states that have implemented cooperation deals with ICE known as 287(g) agreements, enabling local law enforcement to act as additional arms for immigration enforcement. The intensifying arrest campaign follows a recruitment drive, with ICE hiring an estimated 12,000 new officers and agents in the previous year.