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Trump gives ICE new marching orders — Bill Melugin says agents are already changing course

September 28, 2026 | | Print Article

Finger-pointing suggested campaign concerns were at hand as President Donald Trump set the record straight on a reported “miscommunication” about mass deportation.

Coordinated demonization of immigration enforcement was at hand once more after an illegal alien was shot in Austin, Texas, on September 20. This also meant the need to set the record straight on directives from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a report suggested “collateral arrests” and more had been taken off the table — a detail the commander-in-chief himself knocked down.

Late Saturday, Daily Wire immigration reporter Jennie Taer released a scoop that detailed, “ICE officers across the country were told this weekend to stop arresting non-criminals … Now, ICE may only arrest illegal immigrants with criminal convictions or charges for the time being … The change also ends so-called ‘collateral arrests,’ sources said, meaning officers who find a criminal target alongside others in the country illegally may detain only the target.”

Reacting to that report, Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin noted that he spoke with nine officials from ICE and DHS, as well as the president, to conclude, “I’m not really sure what happened here — but everyone is on the same page, including President Trump, in telling me that his immigration enforcement agenda isn’t scaling back.”

“Yes, this verbal guidance did go out to ICE offices across the country last night. I’ve spoken with ICE agents who received it & were shocked & frustrated by it. It’s unclear who it started with,” explained Melugin. “However, I’m told it’s erroneous, was some type of ‘miscommunication’ during conversations about prioritizing ‘worst first’, and there is no change in immigration enforcement policy. President Trump tells me anyone in the country illegally remains ‘on the table’ for ICE arrest & deportation.”

“I’m also told new guidance went out to ICE field offices tonight to reaffirm this and that yes, arrests of illegal aliens and ‘collaterals’ without additional criminal history will continue,” he added. “ICE sources confirm to me they received the new guidance.”

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Likewise, DHS released it’s own statement deeming the initial report “false” and emphasizing, “a nationwide public safety surge in sanctuary cities where our brave officers will be targeting criminal illegal aliens–many released from jails by sanctuary politicians–including murderers, rapists, child predators, and gang members.”

Clarification has been needed before on the mass deportation agenda, particularly in the wake of an ICE-involved shooting. In January, after two protesters were fatally wounded in Minnesota while allegedly clashing with immigration enforcement officials, border czar Tom Homan reaffirmed the priority of arresting “criminals and public safety threats” after use of the term “law-abiding residents” left some suspecting amnesty could be on the table for non-violent illegal aliens.

Likewise, after two people were fatally shot in Maine, the president had to step in to reassert that traffic stops would not be stopped after an ICE directive was released, stating in part, “The Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen on my watch. I.C.E., be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job.”

Maintaining that the story was neither “false” nor “misreported,” Taer shared a post from CBS News immigration correspondent Camilo Montoya-Galvez that described the supposed directive as having been “quickly rolled back.”

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Montoya-Galvez went on to connect the dots to the midterms, writing, “some GOP lawmakers and business leaders have been expressing concerns about the political and economic consequences of ICE’s crackdown.”

Amid the reporting, reactions called for accountability if anyone within ICE or the administration is undermining the mass deportation effort. This included numerous critiques of former Oklahoma senator and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

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Kevin Haggerty
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