The number of arrests since the start of the federal law enforcement surge that began on Aug. 11 in D.C. is now more than 1,000, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Monday.
Bondi said the latest group of arrests includes suspects charged with assaulting law enforcement and the National Guard. She has been posting on social media the number of arrests made each day, since President Donald Trump’s surge began.
Figures indicate that crime in the District has been going down since the president declared a crime emergency, though that continues a trend that has been taking place since last year.
D.C. has recorded 101 murders this year, a 15% drop from the figure at this time last year.
There has also not been a murder in the District since Aug. 13.
Immigration enforcement has also surged
A lot of attention has focused on the nearly 2,000 National Guard members posted around D.C., in part because of their prominent deployments along the National Mall and other areas where there are a lot of tourists.
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Also, some Guard members are now armed, which was not the case when the D.C. National Guard members were first deployed.
But stepped-up immigration arrests made by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and federal agents are also getting noticed. In some cases, people have taken videos of food delivery drivers being taken into custody.
The Trump administration has said more than 300 people in D.C. without legal immigration status have been arrested in recent weeks, which is a major increase in the number arrested prior to the surge.
White House official is driving force on immigration
Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller has led the effort within the administration for ICE to make more arrests. He has been prominent in D.C., at one point showing up at D.C. police headquarters.
He accompanied Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week to Union Station, to meet with members of the National Guard and law enforcement.
Miller said for years D.C. residents have lived in the city under what he described as “intolerable conditions,” pointing to violent shootings and homeless encampments taking over parks and buildings covered in graffiti.
“For too long, 99% of this city has been terrorized by 1% of this city,” Miller said.
Mayor Muriel Bowser has said D.C. leaders remain committed to bringing down crime.
But she has questioned whether the administration’s overriding goal is more about immigration enforcement than battling the local crime problem.
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