The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under President Donald Trump has carried out more than 480,000 arrests of illegal immigrants across the United States over the past nine months, according to Secretary Kristi Noem, Breitbart reports. Noem announced the figures during a press event in Sarasota, Florida on Monday, emphasizing that most of those arrested, about 70 percent, have” criminal charges against them or have been convicted of those criminal charges.”
Noem stressed that the administration’s goal is to target “the worst of the worst,” removing individuals who threaten public safety. “We are not going to let these individuals terrorize our streets anymore and we’re not going to let them make victims out of families that live in this country,” she stated.
Highlighting specific examples, Noem cited the arrest of Erick Carlos Artiles Ramos, a Cuban national previously convicted of homicide, kidnapping, robbery, armed carjacking, and drunk driving. Ramos had been ordered deported in 2008 but remained in the country until recently detained by ICE agents.
Agents also arrested Oscar Alfredo Retana Marroquin from El Salvador, who had already been deported twice and had convictions for sexual assault of a child and DUI. Another individual, Arturo Sanchez Morales from Mexico—previously deported and under a 2019 final removal order—was taken into custody after convictions for lewd acts with a minor, incest with a minor, and DUI.
In another case, ICE detained Lelis Reinaldo Bejarano-Zeron of Honduras, twice deported before and previously convicted of domestic violence.
Noem said that these enforcement actions represent a renewed commitment by the Trump administration to restore public safety. She noted that operations are ongoing nationwide, including in sanctuary cities where local authorities often refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
The DHS figures mark one of the largest enforcement surges since Trump’s return to office and reflect his administration’s ongoing focus on reducing illegal immigration through aggressive enforcement measures to restore safety across America.
According to Fox News, Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, his administration has deported over 515,000 illegal aliens and is projected to surpass 600,000 deportations by the end of the year, setting a historic record. In total, more than two million illegal immigrants have been removed or have voluntarily self-deported, with 1.6 million leaving on their own and around 485,000 arrests made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since January. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin credited President Trump and Secretary Noem for reviving enforcement efforts that had been stalled for four years. McLaughlin said that “this is just the beginning” adding that Trump and Noem “have jumpstarted an agency that was vilified and barred from doing its job for the last four years.”
This crackdown has also reportedly caused a dramatic decline in migration through key routes like Panama’s Darien Gap, with migrants increasingly turning back before reaching U.S. borders. The Trump administration describes these efforts as crucial to ending the era of open borders and restoring safety to American communities through aggressive immigration enforcement policies