ICE detention drops after Minnesota crackdown, data shows
ICE’s detention population is down—at least for now—after a wave of political backlash tied to the Minnesota immigration crackdown that shocked the country.
The number of people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody declined by 12% from a record-high in January to the end of March, according to data released by the agency on Thursday. The decrease was driven largely by fewer detentions of people without criminal records. Still, even with the drop, the average daily detention population remains extremely high, above levels seen during the Biden administration and the first Trump administration. In March, ICE said it detained about 63,000 people per day on average, compared with roughly 72,000 in January.
The policy and political context matters here. The decline comes after nationwide, bipartisan backlash to the massive immigration enforcement operation in the Minneapolis area; the killings of two American citizens at the hands of federal agents there; and a shakeup in Department of Homeland Security leadership. It also follows a broader shift under President Trump’s return to office, when an unprecedented deportation crackdown made people without lawful status newly vulnerable to arrest and detention.
Looking at who’s in custody, ICE data show non-criminal detainees—people accused of civil immigration violations such as crossing the border illegally or overstaying a visa—remain the largest group in detention. From January to March, the average number of detainees without criminal records dropped by 21%, even as that category stayed dominant. Meanwhile, the number of detainees with pending charges fell by 5%, and those with convictions declined by 4% over the same period.
Administration officials have suggested, publicly and privately, that enforcement strategy has shifted after Operation Metro Surge. In February, President Trump told NBC News that the administration could “use a little bit of a softer touch” in enforcement operations after ICE and Border Patrol killed U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti during the Twin Cities operation. After the deaths, the president removed Gregory Bovino from his post as Commander at Large of sweeping and controversial Border Patrol operations in major cities far away from the U.S.-Mexico border, and Bovino has since retired from federal service. Last month, Trump replaced former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem with then-Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma.
Mullin has signaled a more targeted approach. Administration officials previously told CBS News that aggressive tactics used by ICE and Border Patrol agents became politically problematic. Trump tapped White House border czar Tom Homan—rather than Noem—to wind down Operation Metro Surge, with officials saying the administration moved away from broad sweeps in major cities and renewed focus on arresting people with criminal records. At his confirmation hearing in March, Mullin signaled he plans to move in a similar direction. “Working with municipalities, I would love to see ICE become a transport more than the front line,” he said. “If we get back into simply working with law enforcement, we’re going to them, we’re picking up criminals from their jail.”
Mullin also said ICE would use judicial warrants before entering homes or businesses, unless officers are actively pursuing someone who enters those places. This comes after a whistleblower revealed ICE had empowered agents to forcibly enter homes without judicial warrants in operations targeting individuals with deportation orders—described as a marked departure from longstanding policy and practice. ICE acting director Todd Lyons suggested arrests would be carried out differently under Mullin, telling the Boston Globe last month, “Not like Minneapolis.” “Not like before.”
But analysts and advocates caution that it may be too early to call the change permanent. Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, an associate analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, said the shift could reflect a transitory period after Minneapolis and the public outcry about ICE tactics. “It may be part of just a transitory time, following Minneapolis and following the public outcry of ICE tactics,” she told CBS News. “There has been a shift in rhetoric, but we do know that these arrests continue, they’re just not necessarily happening in sort of the high-profile, very flashy public ways like in Minneapolis.”
On the ground, the numbers suggest some tactical adjustments. ICE data show nationwide arrests averaged about 1,040 people each day between mid-February—when the Minnesota operation ended—and early March, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request lawsuit by the Deportation Data Project. About 40% of those arrests did not have criminal records.
The agency also appears to be recording fewer “collateral” arrests. “Collateral” arrests refer to arrests of people who aren’t the original targets of an operation but are found living in the U.S. illegally during an enforcement sweep. More than a quarter of arrests at the start of the year were labeled “collateral,” compared with fewer than one-fifth by early March. ICE has been recording this distinction consistently since August 2025. The vast majority of arrests since then were marked as targeted, although it’s not always clear how ICE determines who is targeted. Roughly one-third of those arrested in targeted operations lacked criminal records, ICE data show.
When asked whether the detention decline signals a systematic change, a DHS spokesperson told CBS News that “since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump’s promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists.” ICE data, meanwhile, indicate fewer collateral arrests. Putzel-Kavanaugh said the “real test” is what happens over the next couple of months as Secretary Mullin settles in, DHS regroups, and decides what the strategy actually is.
And for detainees and their families, the shift may matter in real time, even if it doesn’t feel like a victory on paper. In a hallway outside a processing area somewhere in the system—where you can still hear the buzz of fluorescent lights and someone’s phone vibrating against a pocket—people are left waiting to find out whether the next enforcement wave looks more like Minneapolis, or something else. Actually… maybe that’s not the right way to put it. What’s clear is that ICE’s numbers have moved, even if the direction of the broader approach hasn’t fully locked in.
Hip-hop courses expand in college classrooms
Trump Orders Blockade of Strait of Hormuz After Iran Talks Fail
Brian Hooker described wife’s disappearance night in Bahamas calls