“Closed Border” Not Enough? Trump Seeks to Arrest Thousands of Immigrants Every Day!

The Trump administration has announced a significant escalation in its immigration enforcement efforts, setting a goal to arrest 3,000 illegal immigrants per day through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This target, revealed by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, represents a more than fourfold increase from the administration’s reported average of 656 ICE arrests per day in the initial 50 days following President Donald Trump’s return to office in January.

Speaking on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Wednesday, Miller stated that President Trump is committed to “keep pushing to get that number up higher each and every single day.”

This ambitious declaration comes amidst a period of leadership transition within ICE. The agency announced on Thursday a “leadership realignment” intended to support its “increasing operational tempo.” ICE also claimed it had achieved its highest number of arrests in its history this week, although specific figures were not provided.

As part of this shake-up, Kenneth Genalo, ICE’s acting executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations, is reportedly “retiring” after decades with the agency but will continue in a special government employee role. Robert Hammer, the acting executive associate director for Homeland Security Investigations, will take on a new leadership position at ICE headquarters. The realignment also includes 10 other new appointments within the agency.

These changes follow a reported “tense” meeting last week between Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, as detailed by Axios.

Reinforcing the administration’s objective, “Border Czar” Tom Homan reiterated the commitment to increasing arrests and removals during a Thursday appearance on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” He stated, “We’ve gotta increase these arrests and removals. The numbers are good, but I’m not satisfied. I haven’t been satisfied all year long.”

Arresting and deporting illegal immigrants has been a central pillar of President Trump’s agenda. However, these policies have faced criticism from some lawmakers and have been the subject of lawsuits alleging constitutional violations and instances of “wrongful” deportations, as determined by federal judges.

Despite this opposition and legal challenges, the latest statements from White House officials underscore the administration’s unwavering commitment to its immigration enforcement goals and its determination to further intensify these efforts.