DHS Denies ICE Was Told to Stop Arresting Non-Criminal Immigrants; Trump Reaffirms 'No One Is Off the Table'

Verbal guidance instructing ICE field offices nationwide to prioritize 'worst first' — effectively pausing arrests of undocumented immigrants without criminal records and ending so-called 'collateral arrests' of non-targets encountered during operations — went out over the weekend of September 19-20, 2026, alarming agents who received it, Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported after speaking with nine ICE and DHS sources. The Department of Homeland Security denied the reports on X over the weekend of September 26-27, 2026, saying 'This is false. No one is off the table. We will continue to arrest any and all illegal aliens that come into our path.' President Trump told Fox News that ICE can still arrest and deport anyone in the country illegally, and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the administration's stated priority remains 'the worst of the worst and parole violators.' Sources described the episode as a miscommunication during internal discussions about prioritizing serious offenders rather than a formal policy retreat; new guidance was sent to ICE field offices Saturday evening, September 26, reaffirming that enforcement policy, including collateral arrests, had not changed.