The Trump administration announced Wednesday that federal authorities have arrested more than 10,000 suspected gang members since the start of President Donald Trump's second term, marking a significant immigration enforcement milestone.
The arrests are part of the administration's broader immigration enforcement campaign, which officials say aims to remove violent criminals from U.S. communities. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), those arrested face charges including murder, assault with a deadly weapon, drug trafficking, extortion conspiracy, robbery, and racketeering.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is fulfilling the administration's goal of making the country's communities safer. "Under President Trump's leadership, ICE has arrested over 10,000 gang members," Mullin said in a statement.
"Many of these gang members were released into our country by Joe Biden," Mullin said. "These violent criminals have murdered, assaulted, robbed, and terrorized innocent Americans for sport." Mullin added that the Safe America Act has empowered ICE to arrest even more gang members and criminals from American neighborhoods.
DHS identified the 10,000th suspected gang member arrested as Javier Hernandez Rosas, an illegal immigrant from Mexico and alleged MS-13 member. According to DHS, Rosas has a prior conviction for cocaine possession and was previously arrested on kidnapping and weapons possession charges.
The announcement came as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported reaching a record staffing level of 21,471 agents this spring, the highest in the agency's 102-year history. The administration has made border security a central priority in Trump's second term. Officials say illegal immigration has decreased by more than 87 percent compared to October 2024 levels.
