Florida leads nation in ICE arrests so far this year

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Florida leads the nation in immigration arrests so far for this year.  

According to new data compiled by the New York Times, the Miami Field Office, which includes the state of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, is seeing a sharp increase in arrests and detentions, higher than any other region in the country.  

Arrests from the Miami Field Office have "surged" to around an average of 120 arrests per day, bringing their total for the year to 9,880 as of this month. The total puts the state well ahead of other regions, including Dallas (6,940), New Orleans (5,280) and Houston (4,450).  

The Miami Field Office has made more than 41,000 arrests since Trump took office, the most of any field office 

What we know:

Last year, Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis initiated Operation Tidal Wave. The state-led initiative aligned with federal mass deportation efforts, allowed the state to work directly with ICE, exercising immigration authority that has normally been reserved for the federal government. 

The backstory:

The state of Minnesota has also had well documented ICE enforcement since late 2025. More than 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents deployed to the area, sparking widespread protest and allegations of excessive force. In January, two people were killed during anti-ICE protests, after getting shot by ICE agents. 

However, despite the surge in Minnesota, the field office has only reported 5,530 arrests, trailing four other field offices that each have had more arrests this year than the Twin Cities. 

Big picture view:

The agency divides their enforcement operations into 25 areas of responsibility across the country, covering specific cities or multiple states in some cases. 

The data from the New York Times also shows that while the field offices in Florida and San Antonio did not have high-profile ICE operations this year, they have still seen a steadily increasing number of arrests. Other areas, such as Los Angeles and Chicago, that have had heavy and aggressive enforcement operations over the past year have fallen steeply in recent months. 

The Times reports that about half of the ICE arrests from last year were from "custodial" arrests, in which ICE takes someone who is already in custody from another law enforcement agency.