By Michael McManus
FAIR
Early data published by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show the agency is quickly ramping up its enforcement actions. Between January 23 and January 31, ICE arrested a total of 6,401 aliens nationwide, according to data posted on x.com/ICEgov. January 29 had the highest number of arrests since President Trump took office, at 962 arrests, nearly three times the average of 343 arrests per day between FY 2021 and FY 2024. In addition to arrests, ICE also posted on X that it had issued 6,338 detainers during that same time period.
Since taking office, President Trump has unleashed ICE to arrest, detain, and ultimately remove aliens illegally in the U.S. But instead of going after all illegal aliens at once, the Trump administration has decided to concentrate its early focus on the most dangerous illegal aliens and aliens with orders of removal. Border Czar Tom Homan has dubbed this approach “worst first.”
Some of the dangerous aliens apprehended over the past two weeks certainly meet this description. For example, ICE arrested Dominican national Cesar Polanco, who murdered his pregnant girlfriend in front of her 5 year-old-son. ICE also arrested Turkish national Gokhan Adriguzel, a suspected terrorist who first entered the U.S. as a “gotaway.”
One of the most prominent criminal aliens arrested by ICE over the past two weeks is Venezuelan national Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, a member of Tren de Aragua who participated in the widely publicized takeover of an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado. Zambrano-Pacheco’s arrest is part of the administration’s broader crackdown on Tren de Aragua. On January 26, ICE arrested nearly 50 members of Tren de Aragua at a club in suburban Denver.
In addition to gang members, ICE has apprehended multiple serious sex offenders over the past two weeks. Mexican national Magdaleno Zenen Hernandez Garcia was arrested in Denver, Colorado, for the continuous sexual abuse of a minor. In St Paul, Minnesota, Honduran national Cristofer Alexander Ramirez-Oliva was arrested for third-degree sexual conduct with a minor. TV personality Phil McGraw (a.k.a Dr. Phil) was present for an ICE arrest of an alleged internet sex predator from Thailand in Chicago, the suspect being visibly startled to see a celebrity present at his arrest.
The “worst first” strategy is only the beginning. Homan says that ICE will “open up the aperture” to gradually expand the focus from national and public safety threats to a wider focus on illegal aliens in general. To ensure steady progress, ICE has given itself a goal of 1,200 to 1,500 arrests per day. This equates to 438,000 to 547,500 arrests per year.
There is still a long way to go. Over 10 million aliens were encountered illegally entering the U.S. over the past four years, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) estimates there were roughly 2 million “gotaways.” Removing such a vast number of illegal aliens poses a challenge, but the political will is now clearly there, something that was not the case during the Biden administration. But even with the political will, ICE will still have to contend with “sanctuary city” mayors in Chicago, Denver, and Minneapolis who are committed to obstructing immigration enforcement. The fact ICE has done such a good job so far in the face of this obstruction is testimony to their professionalism. As Tom Homan told hostile reporters “We’re going to enforce immigration laws, that’s what we’re going to do, without apology.”
