Jim Hartman
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made leadership changes as President Trump struggles to ramp up deportations to meet his ambitious goal of removing 1 million illegal aliens this year.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller now says the administration wants to make “a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day,” a dramatic increase from arrest quotas that Trump officials set in January.
At the start of Trump’s second term, officials directed ICE to arrest at least 1,200 to 1,500 per day. But ICE has failed to keep pace with that earlier quota. In April, ICE reported 66,463 arrests, or an average of about 660 arrests a day, during the first 100 days.
That’s nowhere close to what is needed to meet the stated goal of 1 million deportations in 2025. According to ICE, their focus was on “putting the worst first.” Three in four arrests were reported to be criminal illegal aliens, including 2,288 gang members.
Additionally, 1,329 were accused or convicted of sex offenses, and 498 accused or convicted of murder. Border czar Tom Homan conceded he had “not been satisfied with the numbers.” Trump campaigned on a promise to enact the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”
As for deporting criminals, a January A.P.-NORC survey found overwhelming 83% public support for removing violent criminals back to their home countries. A 2025 Washington Post poll also showed 56% of registered voters favor a government effort to remove all undocumented migrants in the U.S.
However, support for deportations drops significantly when families are separated or due process rights ignored. An estimated 189,000 illegal aliens live in Nevada, the highest population of illegals per capita in the entire nation.
A little more than a third live with a child who is a U.S. citizen, and about 7% live with a child who is not a citizen. Nevada’s undocumented workers make up 9% of the state’s employed workforce, the highest share per capita nationally.
Nevada officials have largely demonstrated an ambivalent response to Trump’s immigration crackdown.
While states like Florida, Georgia and Texas boast near unanimous local law enforcement agency signed partnership agreements with ICE in the 287(g) program to enhance cooperation, Nevada law enforcement has very limited involvement.
Sheriffs in only two Nevada counties — Mineral and Douglas — are currently listed by ICE as having signed 287(g) agreements. Both signed limited versions of the agreement applying to jail operations with no community enforcement duties.
Earlier this year, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department says it will not assist ICE in rounding up illegal immigrants.
“That’s not my job,” Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill says.
LVMPD said they will notify ICE of undocumented individuals in custody for certain crimes, including a violent felony, domestic violence, theft, larceny, assault on law enforcement officers, and DUI.
Then this week, LVMPD shifted their stance and said it would rejoined the ICE program.
Police in Reno and Washoe County similarly say they’ll decline to assist with deportation efforts. Attorney General Aaron Ford has hosted several “know your rights” workshops for Nevada immigrants and joined with other Democratic Attorneys General in multiple lawsuits suing the Trump administration, including over illegal immigration.
In his 2022 campaign, Gov. Joe Lombardo, then-Clark County sheriff, touted his history of cooperating with ICE. Last December, Lombardo signed a letter with 26 GOP governors saying they were “fully committed” to Trump’s deportation plan.
Earlier, he replied “the devil is in the details” to a question on the prospect of using the Nevada National Guard to aid in any mass deportation of illegals. In January, Lombardo cautioned he doesn’t believe mass deportation is an “appropriate policy” without first taking steps to secure the southern border.
In one sense Nevada is a “sanctuary state” with a major but silent reliance on illegal immigrant labor, notably in the resort/hospitality industry, and by promoting immigrant-friendly policies like granting illegals driving privileges in 2013.
E-mail Jim Hartman at lawdocman1@aol.com.