ICE Told to Add 1,000 Arrests a Day Before the Midterms, as DHS Denies Quotas and Mullin Refuses to Pause New York Operations

ICE leaders told agents nationwide on 6 October to make 1,000 more arrests a day, CNN reported, citing two sources. That would take the agency back to a goal of 3,000 arrests a day, from a recent average of about 2,000. Agents were also given a weekly target of 19,000 arrests. The highest week so far, in late June, was just over 12,500, according to the Deportation Data Project.

The Homeland Security Department says there are “NO quotas on arrests.” Officials describe 3,000 a day as a goal.

The numbers so far

ICE took about 51,000 people into custody in August, the highest monthly figure of this administration, after more than 46,000 in July. A new ICE contract solicitation for temporary field detention space cites an “exceptionally high operational tempo with increased arrests.”

The money for the expansion comes from the 2025 tax and spending law, which funded ICE through 2029, as covered in our post on ICE funding.

Unease among Republicans

Some Republicans are uneasy with the timing, three weeks before the election. Representative María Elvira Salazar of Florida broke with the administration in a campaign ad. Agriculture groups have complained about raids disrupting farm labour. Democratic Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine said: “Human beings are not numbers to satisfy a political agenda.”

New York

The push comes after an ICE officer shot a man during an arrest in the Marble Hill section of the Bronx, covered in our earlier post. On CNN on 11 October, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE won’t pause operations in New York. He listed 13 charges against the man who was shot, said he had fled officers about a month earlier and knew his five-year-old child was in the car. Mullin also claimed that 258 immigrants in New York City are wanted for or imprisoned for murder. That figure is his and hasn’t been independently verified.

Why it matters

Arrest goals shape everything downstream: detention space, immigration court backlogs and the number of US cities where ICE operates in public view. Critics argue a daily target also changes who gets arrested, pushing agents toward people without criminal records once easier targets are in custody.

For the midterms, immigration enforcement is both a mobilising issue for the President’s supporters and a risk in suburban and farm districts. That’s the tension Salazar’s ad reflects.

What to watch

ICE’s October arrest figures, which will show whether the goal is being met, and court challenges to arrests at courthouses and in the city, which New York officials have promised.