DHS Denies Change Of ICE Strategy: ‘No One Is Off The Table’ - Newsweek
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denied media reports it has instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to stop arresting suspected illegal migrants who haven’t been accused of a crime, insisting “no one is off the table.”
The report was initially published by The Daily Wire, who citing “agency sources” said ICE officers had been told to only arrest illegal migrants with criminal convictions or charges.
President Trump has made a crackdown on illegal immigration one of the main policy pillars of his second term in office, though ICE has come in for significant criticism particularly following a series of deadly shootings involving its agents. A move to only target illegal migrants with criminal convictions or charges would be a major policy change, and would likely spark an angry reaction from a section of Trump’s political base.
On Saturday via X the DHS shared The Daily Wire’s report posted by its immigration reporter Jennie Taer adding: “This is false. No one is off the table. We will continue to arrest any and all illegal aliens that come into our path.
“Anyone in our country illegally will be arrested and deported.
“In an effort to protect American citizens, ICE has initiated a nationwide public safety surge in sanctuary cities where our brave officers will be targeting criminal illegal aliens—many released from jails by sanctuary politicians—including murderers, rapists, child predators, and gang members.”
Newsweek contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment on Sunday via email outside of regular office hours.
The Daily Wire initially reported ICE agents across the United States were told over the weekend to end arrests of illegal migrants who don’t have criminal convictions or charges.
The publication said this would put an end to so-called “collateral arrests,” where officers pursuing a suspected criminal target could also detain other illegal migrants they came across.
Speaking to The Daily Wire one ICE officer said “they’re trying to calm things down before the [midterm] elections” while another commented: “I hope Trump finds out about this s*** and puts an end to it.”
Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin posted on X that he had spoken to nine ICE & DHS insiders who said “verbal guidance” was sent out to ICE offices instructing them to avoid non-criminal migrants, but this was “erroneous” resulting in a “miscommunication” about going after the “worst first.”
As a result, Melugin said there had been “no change in immigration enforcement policy” with guidance sent out to ICE field offices on Saturday night “to reaffirm this.”
Melugin also said he had spoken to President Trump who insisted anyone in the United States illegally remains “on the table” for ICE agents.
Public approval over Trump’s handling of immigration has fallen sharply in recent months with an Economist/YouGov poll tracker finding at the end of August it had fallen 24 points from plus 11 in February 2025 to minus 13.
The tracker found that in August just 40 percent of American adults approved of Trump’s handling of the issue, while 53 percent disapproved.
Over the past year ICE agents have been involved in a number of shootings, a number of them deadly, involving both suspected illegal migrants and anti-ICE protestors.
Earlier this month an ICE agent shot and wounded Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a 28-year-old DoorDash driver, but was not wearing his bodycam at the time.
Two anti-ICE activists, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, were shot dead by ICE officers during altercations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January.
In July the DHS told ICE agents to stop conducting traffic stops following fatal shootings in Texas and Maine, though this was later overturned following criticism from Trump.
Since Trump returned to office in January 2025 illegal crossings of the U.S.-Mexican border have fallen dramatically to their lowest level since 1970.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Cristina Diciu.
