The US Department of Homeland Security has rejected a report that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were instructed to stop arresting undocumented immigrants who have no criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.
The denial came after The Daily Wire reported on September 26 that ICE officers nationwide had been told to cease arrests of “non-criminals” for the time being. The report, citing agency sources, said officers could focus on immigrants with criminal convictions or charges and that those with final deportation orders but no criminal record would not be arrested.
DHS pushed back on the report, saying that ICE’s immigration enforcement operation remains broad.
“This is false. No one is off the table,” DHS said in a statement posted on X. The department said ICE would continue arresting people who are unlawfully present in the US.
“Anyone in our country illegally will be arrested and deported,” the department said.
ICE non-criminal arrest report disputed by DHS
The Daily Wire report said its sources described an apparent change in enforcement instructions that would have limited arrests to undocumented immigrants facing criminal charges or with criminal convictions.
The sources also claimed the change would end so-called “collateral arrests” — situations in which ICE officers encounter other undocumented immigrants while pursuing a particular criminal target. Under the reported instruction, officers would arrest only the identified target.
DHS disputed that characterization and instead highlighted what it described as a nationwide public-safety surge in sanctuary cities, saying ICE officers are targeting people accused or convicted of serious crimes, including murder, rape, child sexual offenses and gang-related crimes.
The conflicting accounts mean it is not clear whether any temporary internal guidance was issued to ICE officers or whether enforcement practices changed in specific locations.
Report comes amid intensified ICE enforcement
The dispute comes as the Trump administration continues to expand immigration enforcement across the US.
Recent reporting and government statements have highlighted a sharp increase in ICE arrests. In Oklahoma, for example, an analysis of immigration arrests through 287(g) partnerships found that more than 1,800 people had been arrested from January through July, with fewer than 20% having a criminal conviction, according to data analyzed by the Deportation Data Project.
DHS disputed that analysis and said the data was being used to advance what it called a false narrative.
The Daily Wire report said some ICE officers believed the alleged change could be connected to the approaching US midterm elections, but that claim came from anonymous sources and was not confirmed by DHS. One source told the outlet that officers expected arrest numbers to fall.
For now, the department says there is no blanket instruction taking non-criminal undocumented immigrants off the table and that ICE will continue immigration arrests as part of the administration’s enforcement campaign.
