In a recent meeting, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller expressed frustration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials over what he perceived as insufficient arrest numbers. Miller, who serves as Trump’s most influential adviser on immigration matters, confronted top ICE officials about their performance in deportation efforts.
According to MSNBC, during the meeting, which was first reported by Axios and later confirmed by NBC News, Miller established a new daily arrest quota for ICE’s 25 field offices. The target has been set at 3,000 arrests per day, doubling the previous quota from January, when each field office was required to make 75 arrests daily, totaling approximately 1,200 to 1,500 arrests.
According to sources who attended the meeting, Miller instructed officials to “look more broadly than immigrants who have committed crimes and to arrest noncriminal migrants anywhere they encounter them as well.” He reportedly threatened to terminate the employment of field office leaders who ranked in the bottom 10 percent of monthly arrest figures.
Widening deportation efforts raise concerns in communities
The expanded scope of arrests has begun to affect communities where Trump received strong support. ICE agents have started apprehending migrants immediately after their cases are dismissed in immigration courts, effectively turning legal proceedings into potential traps for those seeking asylum or other means to remain in the United States.
The administration’s actions appear to contradict previous public statements focusing solely on criminal deportations. While White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had emphasized targeting “heinous monsters, rapists, murderers, kidnappers, sexual assaulters, predators,” Miller’s recent directives suggest a broader approach to deportation.
This shift in policy has created confusion among Trump supporters in communities affected by the deportations. The case of Ming Li Hui, a waitress and house cleaner in Missouri who faces deportation after twenty years in the United States, exemplifies this disconnect. Local residents who supported Trump have expressed surprise, stating they believed deportations would target only gang members and criminals.
Miller’s approach treats all undocumented immigrants as removal targets, regardless of criminal status. Under U.S. law, crossing the border illegally is typically considered a civil violation rather than a criminal offense. However, early executive orders signed by Trump instructed officials to treat all undocumented immigrants as potential targets for removal and implement expedited removal processes for recent arrivals.
Published: Jun 3, 2025 11:15 pm