The Trump administration is deploying approximately 330 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to cities across more than 40 states and Puerto Rico, shifting tactics after public backlash against high profile raids while maintaining the aggressive pace of deportations that has defined Trump’s second term. Federal purchasing records reveal the deployments target major hubs like New York, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, Nashville, and Seattle, alongside smaller communities including Derby, Vermont, Caribou, Maine, and Concho, Arizona, with Texas receiving the largest contingent at 49 officers. The expansion comes under new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who replaced Kristi Noem in March after two American citizens were fatally shot by federal agents during immigration sweeps in Minneapolis in January, and who has deliberately lowered the administration’s public profile while maintaining what he calls an unchanged operational tempo.
The strategy represents a calculated evolution from the chaotic visibility of 2025, when military style tactics in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago triggered nationwide protests and eroded public support. Border czar Tom Homan, speaking at the May 5 Border Security Expo in Phoenix, dismissed any suggestion of retreat with characteristic bluntness: “You ain’t seen [expletive] yet. You will see more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen before, so congratulations”. Mullin has pursued what he calls a “quieter” approach, “I wanted to get DHS out of the headlines so our agents… could do their job without being harassed by the media”, while reporting that the agency detained 1,900 people in a single day earlier this week and deported approximately 2,700 in one week, with detention centers holding over 60,000 people. The administration has also begun offering local police departments up to $100,000 for new vehicles and salary reimbursements through the expanded 287(g) program, which has grown from 135 partnerships to over 1,700 under Trump, creating what critics call a bounty hunter incentive structure for immigration enforcement.
Despite the operational surge, political headwinds are intensifying. An April Politico poll found half of all Americans, including 25% of Trump voters, believe mass deportation campaigns have gone too far, while the administration’s own data shows 35% of detainees as of April 4 had no criminal record or pending charges. New York Governor Kathy Hochul directly challenged Homan’s threats to “flood” uncooperative cities, citing Trump’s personal promise that no surge would occur without her request: “I’m not asking”. The administration has sued multiple sanctuary cities for non cooperation, though judges have been reluctant to mandate local assistance. With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act providing over $170 billion for enforcement through 2029 and ICE staffing already doubled to 22,000, the infrastructure for mass deportation is firmly in place, what remains uncertain is whether American public opinion, already shifting after the Minneapolis killings, will tolerate the human costs of a policy that Homan explicitly extends beyond “the worst of the worst” to anyone living in the country without legal status .
