Arrests of migrants have increased in Connecticut and elsewhere around the country as president Donald Trump’s administration delivers on a campaign promise to ramp up deportation efforts nationwide.
Authorities from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have carried out more than twice the number of arrests in Connecticut during Trump’s early months in office compared with the same period last year, according to new data released last week.
The figures – obtained by lawyers and academics through a lawsuit brought by the UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy – provide a detailed window into immigration enforcement activity during the first five months of Trump’s return to office.
The data is likely an incomplete accounting of all migrant arrests, as it reflects only activity carried out by ICE. It omits arrests at the border by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and activity by other branches of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Nevertheless, the records provide one of the most detailed public accountings of the federal government’s controversial efforts to increase removals of migrants, including information about those who are apprehended by ICE agents, and a description of where and when enforcement activity took place.
Below are some takeaways from the numbers:
ICE arrests are up in Connecticut
ICE officers arrested 247 people in Connecticut between Jan. 20, 2025, when Trump was sworn into office for his second term, and mid-June. That’s up from 110 during an equivalent period in 2024, under president Joe Biden’s last year in office, an increase of nearly 125%.
The pace of arrests picked up significantly in Connecticut from late January through the end of April 2025, but ebbed slightly in May of this year before spiking again in early June.
The most recent increase follows a meeting Trump advisor Stephen Miller held in late May with ICE officials, in which he reportedly urged immigration officers to expand their targets for enforcement.
Miller has pushed for the country to hit a target of 3,000 deportations per day. That imperative set the stage for large-scale ICE operations in early June in places such as Los Angeles, triggering public protests and the president's decision to deploy National Guard troops on the streets of the city.
More people arrested in Connecticut have pending criminal charges
A higher share of migrants who were arrested in Connecticut after Trump’s return to office have pending criminal charges than during the same period last year.
Migrants in this category have not been convicted of breaking any criminal law. Their cases have not been adjudicated in court, meaning they haven’t been found guilty or innocent of the allegations against them.
In the early months of 2024, only 10% of migrants arrested by ICE in Connecticut fell into this category. During Trump’s second term, about 42% of migrants arrested in the state had pending charges. They now represent the largest category of those arrested by ICE.
The uptick comes as fears have circulated among migrant communities that attending scheduled court hearings or immigration court proceedings could make migrants targets for immigration enforcement.
Nationwide, however, arrest records followed a different pattern. Like in Connecticut, migrants with criminal charges or pending criminal cases initially comprised a greater share of those arrested by ICE during Trump’s early weeks in office.
But a new trend has emerged since late May, as ICE officials broadened their focus.
Records show non-criminal migrants are increasingly targets for apprehension. As ABC News and others have reported, nearly half of all migrants arrested across the country in recent weeks had no pending charges or criminal history.
ICE officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Hartford area saw the greatest number of arrests
As ICE ramped up arrests this year, much of its enforcement activity took place in Hartford and the surrounding area, records show. Immigration officers apprehended at least 54 migrants in the city after Trump took office. An additional 73 arrests were labeled as occurring in the “HAR GENERAL AREA, NON-SPECIFIC,” an apparent reference to Hartford and its surroundings.
Stamford was another hotspot, with 19 arrests, followed by Waterbury with 14, Danbury with 13 and Bridgeport with 12.
Separately, officers also arrested 13 migrants at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, a low-security federal prison. Seven additional arrests were recorded at state-run prisons.
The data reporting period ends June 11, and the records exclude some incidents around that date that captured public attention in Connecticut, including the arrest of four migrants at a car wash in Southington, and the apprehension of a New Haven mother who was taking her children to school.
Ecuadorians comprise largest share of those arrested
The largest share of migrants arrested by ICE in Connecticut during Trump’s second term are citizens of Ecuador, though it’s unclear whether the development represents a targeted enforcement strategy.
Immigration officers apprehended at least 65 Ecuadorians in Connecticut – about 26% of all migrants who were arrested in recent months.
Large numbers of migrants from Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Honduras and the Dominican Republic were also arrested.
