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ICE is making more arrests, but critics say some claims don't add up

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ICE is making more arrests, but critics say some claims don't add up

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem oversaw immigration enforcement operations in New York City in January.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/via Getty Images


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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The first month of the Trump administration’s crackdown yielded a jump in arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But a closer look at the numbers suggests why the White House has been frustrated with the pace of arrests and deportations.

Immigration authorities are making more arrests per day on average than they did under President Biden. Yet the latest data from the Department of Homeland Security shows that ICE arrests still have not kept up with the goals set by Trump administration officials.

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At first, the Trump administration published frequent updates announcing the daily ICE arrest totals, which peaked at more than 1,000 per day. But in February, those daily updates stopped.

The most recent DHS data released this week shows that fewer than 600 people per day have been booked into ICE detention facilities across the country during the first three weeks of February — well below the pace of 1,200 to 1,500 arrests a day that administration officials have said they want.

That hasn’t stopped the Trump administration from making some bold claims.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced this week that the administration had arrested 20,000 immigrants without legal status in its first month. That’s more than ICE had been arresting on average under the Biden administration, though still not enough to satisfy the White House’s stated quota.

Then Noem went a step further. In an official statement from DHS, she said that ICE’s February arrest total represents a “627% increase in monthly arrests compared to just 33,000 at large arrests under Biden for ALL of last year,” a claim she repeated on social media.

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But immigration experts say Noem’s math is misleading because she’s comparing total ICE arrests under the current administration with a smaller subset of arrests under another.

“She’s comparing apples to coconuts” in order to exaggerate the difference in arrests numbers, said Jason Houser, a former chief of staff at ICE during the Biden administration.

ICE made a total of more than 113,000 arrests last year. The vast majority were “custodial” arrests, meaning the target was already in the custody of state or local officials. A far smaller number of the arrests that ICE makes are considered “at large.”

But Noem’s statement doesn’t make any of that clear. It also doesn’t specify how many of the 20,000 arrests ICE made in February were considered “at large” arrests and how many were not, leaving immigration experts frustrated.

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DHS did not reply to a request seeking clarification.

Houser says the Trump administration is pushing ICE officers to execute a series of large-scale enforcement actions that play well in the media, rather than focusing its resources on the most dangerous threats.

“It’s optics now,” Houser said. “It’s not about public safety anymore. It’s just about this volume number. And we are less safe for that.”

But Noem insists the Trump administration’s crackdown is making the country safer.

“President Trump and this Administration are saving lives every day because of the actions we are taking to secure the border and deport illegal alien criminals,” she said in a statement this week.

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Still, White House officials including border czar Tom Homan have expressed frustration with the pace of arrests and removals, and several top ICE officials have already been removed from their posts.

The number of immigrants in ICE detention centers climbed this month to more than 43,000, the highest total since before the COVID pandemic during the first Trump administration. This week, ICE announced plans to expand its network of detention centers, including what it called the first new facility to open during the second Trump administration.

President Trump pledged during the 2024 election campaign to build the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history. And while the Trump administration has touted its arrest record so far, it has said little about the pace of deportations.

“It’s been notable that the Trump administration has not put out on-the-record deportation numbers,” said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington.

The number of migrants deported to Mexico has been declining in the first weeks of the Trump administration, Bush-Joseph said.

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But she said it’s difficult for observers to see a full picture of what’s happening with deportations. The Biden administration released monthly detailed data about removals and returns.

So far, Bush-Joseph said, the Trump administration has not.

“That could indicate that it’s taking them some time to really try to ramp up and work on this promise of mass deportations,” she said.

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Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links

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Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links

Former president Bill Clinton is scheduled to give deposition Friday to a congressional committee investigating his links to Jeffrey Epstein, one day after Hillary Clinton testified before the committee and called the proceedings “partisan political theatre” and “an insult to the American people”.

During remarks before the House oversight committee, Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, insisted on Thursday that she had never met Epstein.

The former Democratic president, however, flew on Epstein’s private jet several times in the early 2000s but said he never visited his island.

Clinton, who engaged in an extramarital affair while president and has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, also appears in a photo from the recently released files, in a hot tub with Epstein and a woman whose identity is redacted.

Clinton has denied the sexual misconduct claims and was not charged with any crimes. He also has not been accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein.

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Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times during the early years of Clinton’s presidency, according to White House visitor records cited in news reports. Clinton said he cut ties with him around 2005, before the disgraced financier, who died from suicide in 2019, pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor in Florida.

The House committee subpoenaed the Clintons in August. They initially refused to testify but agreed after Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt.

The Clintons asked for their depositions to be held publicly, with the former president stating that to do so behind closed doors would amount to a “kangaroo court”.

“Let’s stop the games + do this the right way: in a public hearing,” Clinton said on X earlier this month.

The committee’s chair, James Comer, did not grant their request, and the proceedings will be conducted behind closed doors with video to be released later.

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On Thursday, Hillary Clinton’s proceedings were briefly halted after representative Lauren Boebert leaked an image of Clinton testifying.

During the full day deposition, Clinton said she had no information about Epstein and did not recall ever meeting him.

Before the deposition, Comer said it would be a long interview and that one with Bill Clinton would be “even longer”.

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Read Judge Schiltz’s Order

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Read Judge Schiltz’s Order

CASE 0:26-cv-00107-PJS-DLM

Doc. 12-1 Filed 02/26/26

Page 5 of 17

and to file a status update by 11:00 am on January 20. ECF No. 5. Respondents never provided a bond hearing and did not release Petitioner until January 21, ECF Nos. 10, 12, after failing to file an update, ECF No. 9. Further, Respondents released Petitioner subject to conditions despite the Court’s release order not providing for conditions. ECF Nos. 5, 12–13.

Abdi W. v. Trump, et al., Case No. 26-CV-00208 (KMM/SGE)

On January 21, 2026, the Court ordered Respondents, within 3 days, to either (a) complete Petitioner’s inspection and examination and file a notice confirming completion, or (b) release Petitioner immediately in Minnesota and confirm the date, time, and location of release. ECF No. 7. No notice was ever filed. The Court emailed counsel on January 27, 2026, at 10:39 am. No response was provided.

Adriana M.Y.M. v. David Easterwood, et al., Case No. 26-CV-213 (JWB/JFD)

On January 24, 2026, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and ordered Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release, or anticipated release, within 48 hours. ECF No. 12. Respondent was not released until January 30, and Respondents never disclosed the time of release, instead describing it as “early this morning.” ECF No. 16.

Estefany J.S. v. Bondi, Case No. 26-CV-216 (JWB/SGE)

On January 13, 2026, at 10:59 am, the Court ordered Respondents to file a letter by 4:00 pm confirming Petitioner’s current location. ECF No. 8. After receiving no response, the Court ordered Respondents, at 5:11 pm, to immediately confirm Petitioner’s location and, by noon on January 14, file a memorandum explaining their failure to comply with the initial order. ECF No. 9. Respondents did not file the memorandum, requiring the Court to issue another order. ECF No. 12. On January 15, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and required Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release within 48 hours. ECF No. 18. On January 20, having received no confirmation, the Court ordered Respondents to comply immediately. ECF No. 21. Respondents informed the Court that Petitioner was released in Minnesota on January 17, but did not specify the time. ECF No. 22.

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Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

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Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

James Hickman holds a photo montage of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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CHICAGO — A line of mourners streamed through a Chicago auditorium Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. as cross-country memorial services began in the city the late civil rights leader called home.

The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born.

Family members wiped away tears as the casket was brought into the stately brick building. Flowers lined the sidewalks where people waiting to enter watched a large screen playing video excerpts of Jackson’s notable speeches. Some raised their fists in solidarity.

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The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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Inside, Jackson’s children, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Rev. Al Sharpton were among those who stood by the open casket to shake hands and hug those coming to view the body of Jackson, dressed in a suit and blue shirt and tie.

“The challenge for us is that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain,” Sharpton told reporters. “Dr. King’s dream and Jesse Jackson’s mission now falls on our shoulders. We’ve got to stand up and keep it going.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks as Jesse Jackson Jr. listens after the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks as Jesse Jackson Jr. listens after the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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Jackson died last week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.

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Remembrances have already poured in from around the globe, and several U.S. states, including Minnesota, Iowa and North Carolina, are flying flags at half-staff in his honor.

But perhaps nowhere has his death been felt as strongly as in the nation’s third-largest city, where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children, including a son who is a congressman.

Bouquets have been left outside the family’s Tudor-style home on the city’s South Side for days. Public schools have offered condolences, and city trains have used digital screens to display Jackson’s portrait and his well-known mantra, “I am Somebody!”

People wait to enter the security checkpoint for the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

People wait to enter the security checkpoint for the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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His causes, both in the United States and abroad, were countless: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.

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“We honor him, and his hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago,” the mayor said in a statement.

Next week, Jackson will lie in honor at the South Carolina Statehouse, followed by public services. According to Rainbow PUSH’s agenda, Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to deliver remarks; however, the governor’s office said Thursday that his participation wasn’t yet confirmed. Jackson spent his childhood and started his activism in South Carolina.

Details on services in Washington have not yet been made public. However, he will not lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.

The two weeks of events will wrap up next week with a large celebration of life gathering at a Chicago megachurch and finally, homegoing services at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Family members said the services will be open to all.

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“Our family is overwhelmed and overjoyed by the amazing amount of support being offered by common, ordinary people who our father’s life has come into contact with,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said before the services began. “This is a unique opportunity to lay down some of the political rhetoric and to lay down some of the division that deeply divides our country and to reflect upon a man who brought people together.”

The family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives as Yusep Jackson wipes his eyes before public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

The family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives as Yusep Jackson wipes his eyes before public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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The services included prayers from some of the city’s most well-known religious leaders, including Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. Mourners of all ages — from toddlers in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs — came to pay respects.

Video clips of his appearances at news conferences, the campaign trail and even “Sesame Street” also played inside the auditorium.

Claudette Redic, a retiree who lives in Chicago, said her family has respected Jackson, from backing his presidential ambitions to her son getting a scholarship from a program Jackson championed.

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“We have generations of support,” she said. “I’m hoping we continue.”

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