U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) has arrested more than 9,300 people in San Diego and Imperial counties since January and nearly 2,000 in July alone, according to newly released data from the Deportation Data Project.
The new data show how despite the change in immigration enforcement tactics under new Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign remains in full force.
Mullin replaced former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in March.
While enforcement tactics under Noem were flashy and combative and defined by occupation-style campaigns in Minnesota, Chicago and LA, Mullin is taking the opposite approach. In confirmation hearings he said ICE would be less visible, and pledged to keep the agency out of the headlines.
All told, federal immigration agents arrested nearly 18,000 people in San Diego and Imperial Counties from the start of the second Trump administration in January 2025 through Aug. 6, according to the data.
“That’s 18,000 families that have been separated, that have had their lives turned upside down,” said Benjamin Prado, an activist with Union del Barrio — an organization that conducts community patrols warning people of immigration enforcement.
Prado called the record number of arrests a reflection of the mulit-billion dollar budget approved for immigration enforcement earlier this year.
“What we are seeing is more agents out in the field,” he said. “Before we would see sporadic enforcement up in North County San Diego and now it’s on a daily basis.”
Nationwide, ICE arrested nearly 584,000 people during Trump’s second term and nearly 50,000 in July, according to the data. The July count was the highest monthly total, an NPR analysis showed.
The Deportation Data Project, which is a joint effort by UC Berkeley and UCLA, gathers the data via Freedom of Information Act requests and publishes it for free on their website.
ICE sorts data by Area of Responsibility, or AOR. The San Diego AOR includes both San Diego and Imperial counties — a separate breakdown of arrests in each county is not available.
The data also show that ICE is increasingly targeting immigrants without criminal convictions and children.
Between April and July, the number of people arrested with criminal convictions held steady while the number who do not have more than doubled, from 446 to 1,196. This despite continued rhetoric from the Trump administration that they target the “worst of the worst” criminals.
Broken down by age and gender, the data show men between the ages of 20 and 40 make up the bulk of immigration arrests in the region. However, the number of children arrested keeps going up.
In July, ICE agents arrested 50 children under 15 years old in San Diego and Imperial counties, up from 24 in June.
ICE agents have arrested 340 children under the age of 15 since the start of the second Trump administration. That includes more than 50 kids younger than 5.
Explore more of the data below:
