US immigration officials arrested, detained and deported tens of thousands of people in operations nationwide during the federal government shutdown , new data reveals.

The arrests have led to a marked increase in the number of people held in immigration jails, with more than 65,000 currently detained nationwide – the highest number of people in immigration detention ever.

While other federal employees were furloughed and without pay and many public services were limited or unavailable, officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) kept up enforcement operations nationwide, in line with the Trump administration’s aggressive anti-immigration agenda . This included detaining thousands of people with no criminal record.

In total, ICE arrested and detained approximately 5

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