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Friday, Aug. 15, 2025

Have ICE arrests surged in Arizona since Trump took office?

Tallulah Anne, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
yes

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in Arizona were up 72% in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, according to an AZCIR analysis of immigration enforcement data compiled by the Deportation Data Project. 

From January through June, ICE made 3,764 arrests in the state — up from 2,186 in the first six months of last year. Monthly arrests climbed from 452 in January, when President Donald Trump took office, to 864 in June.

The Trump administration has implemented more than 180 immigration-specific executive actions this year, according to the Migration Policy Institute. New policies include establishing a nationwide target of 3,000 arrests per day, boosting the detention budget by more than 300% and eliminating certain protections against immigration enforcement in “safe spaces” such as schools and churches.

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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

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