Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers across the country were told this weekend to stop arresting undocumented immigrants who had no criminal convictions or pending charges, according to agency sources who spoke with The Daily Wire.
The officers were also told not to make “collateral arrests,” which occur when agents encounter other undocumented immigrants while pursuing a specific target. One ICE officer told the publication, “We believe it has something to do with the midterms coming up. They’re trying to calm things down before the elections.” Another predicted, “We’ll see the arrest numbers go down.”
[NOTE: Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) declared in a recent campaign ad: “Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” adding “the same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”]
Since I have been proven correct on the ICE STAND DOWN, here is the newest directive given to all ICE Officers:
NEW ICE ENFORCEMENT DIRECTIVE
This comes from several ICE Supervisors from across the nation:
Any illegal alien that is encountered but does not have a criminal…
— J.J. Carrell (@JJCarrell14) September 27, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security called the report false. “No one is off the table,” DHS wrote Sunday. “We will continue to arrest any and all illegal aliens that come into our path.”
The department said ICE had begun a nationwide surge in sanctuary cities targeting “murderers, rapists, child predators, and gang members,” adding: “Anyone in our country illegally will be arrested and deported.”
This is FALSE.
No one is off the table. We will continue to arrest any and all illegal aliens that come into our path. https://t.co/7nHkIksv04
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 27, 2026
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin later said that the first instructions had, in fact, reached ICE offices. Melugin said he spoke with President Trump and nine ICE and DHS sources, including agents who received the guidance and were “shocked and frustrated” by it.
“Yes, this verbal guidance did go out to ICE offices across the country last night,” Melugin reported. He said officials told him that the order was erroneous and had resulted from a “miscommunication” during discussions about prioritizing the “worst first.”
Replacement guidance was sent to ICE field offices Saturday night, according to Melugin. It told agents that enforcement policy had not changed and that they could continue making collateral arrests and arresting undocumented immigrants without criminal histories.
[NOTE: Unlawful presence is a civil immigration violation. Illegal entry and illegal reentry can be prosecuted as federal crimes. The disputed instructions concerned immigrants with no separate criminal convictions or pending charges — not who the administration categorizes as the “worst of the worst.”]
The Daily Wire reported that people with final deportation orders but no criminal convictions or charges were also covered by the first instructions. One ICE source questioned whether Trump knew about the order and said: “I hope Trump finds out about this [expletive] and puts an end to it.”
The Washington Sun reported that DHS did not answer its request to confirm whether the department had sent the replacement guidance described by Melugin.
