The Department of Homeland Security of the United States (DHS) denied that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has adopted a policy to stop arresting immigrants without convictions or criminal charges and assured that detentions will continue against individuals without criminal records who are illegally in the country.
"This is false. No one is excluded," responded the DHS this Sunday in a post on its official X account.
The agency stated: «Anyone who is illegally in our country will be arrested and deported».
The DHS was even more explicit about the scope of operations: "We will continue to arrest every single illegal immigrant who crosses our path."
The response came after The Daily Wire published on Saturday, citing anonymous sources from ICE, that agents from the agency in various parts of the country had been instructed over the weekend to temporarily stop arresting individuals without convictions or criminal charges.
According to these sources, ICE could currently only detain immigrants with convictions or criminal charges. The report also stated that individuals with final deportation orders but without convictions or criminal charges would also not be arrested.
The sources cited by the outlet also stated that the instructions put an end to the so-called "collateral arrests", which occur when agents searching for a specific target encounter other individuals who are also illegally present in the United States.
The DHS rejected that interpretation and stated that there is no change that excludes those individuals from immigration operations.
At the same time, it announced that ICE has begun a nationwide public safety deployment in the so-called sanctuary cities, prioritizing immigrants with criminal records.
In its statement, the department assured that agents will focus on "illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds" and specifically mentioned individuals charged or convicted of crimes such as murder, rape, sexual offenses against minors, and gang affiliation.
However, subsequent reports introduced an important nuance regarding what transpired within ICE.
Fox News reported on Sunday that its correspondent Bill Melugin spoke with President Donald Trump and nine sources from ICE and DHS, who confirmed that a verbal instruction had indeed circulated among the agency's offices.
According to those sources, the indication emerged during discussions aimed at prioritizing cases considered the most serious —the criterion referred to as «worst first» — but was later characterized internally as a communication issue, rather than a formal policy change.
The ICE offices later received new instructions reaffirming that the detention of immigrants without additional criminal backgrounds, including collateral arrests, may continue.
Trump also told Fox News that anyone who is illegally in the United States remains subject to arrest and deportation.
The clarification coincides with what immigration attorney Wilfredo "Willy" Allen stated this Monday, who warned that ICE's detention policy had not changed and advised immigrants not to interpret the initial reports as a safeguard against potential arrests.
ICE operations have increased considerably during 2026. In August, the agency recorded nearly 51,000 detentions, its highest monthly figure to date, according to preliminary government data reviewed by Reuters. It was the third consecutive month with a record number of arrests.
That increase includes a growing number of immigrants with no criminal records. The data cited at that time showed that in July less than a quarter of the people arrested had criminal backgrounds, compared to nearly 60% recorded in December 2024.
The scope of operations, however, is subject to judicial limits in certain jurisdictions.
In Southern California, for example, a federal judge limited civil arrests without a warrant in seven counties, requiring agents to individually determine that there is probable cause regarding immigration status and flight risk before making certain warrantless arrests.
That ruling has a specific geographic and legal scope and does not equate to a national suspension of the arrests of immigrants without criminal records.
Las políticas de ICE y las operaciones en ciudades santuario siguen en constante movimiento. Mantente informado con la cobertura actualizada de en CiberCuba.
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