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Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
California took center stage in ICE raids, but other states saw more immigration arrests
Ever since federal immigration raids ramped up across California, triggering fierce protests that prompted President Trump to deploy troops to Los Angeles, the state has emerged as the symbolic battleground of the administration's deportation campaign. But even as arrests soared, California was not the epicenter of Trump's anti-immigrant project. In the first five months of Trump's second term, California lagged behind the staunchly red states of Texas and Florida in the total arrests. According to a Los Angeles Times analysis of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement data from the Deportation Data Project, Texas reported 26,341 arrests — nearly a quarter of all ICE arrests nationally — followed by 12,982 in Florida and 8,460 in California. Even in June, when masked federal immigration agents swept through L.A., jumping out of vehicles to snatch people from bus stops, car washes and parking lots, California saw 3,391 undocumented immigrants arrested — more than Florida, but still only about half as many as Texas. When factoring in population, California drops to 27th in the nation, with 217 arrests per million residents — about a quarter of Texas' 864 arrests per million and less than half of a whole slew of states including Florida, Arkansas, Utah, Arizona, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Nevada. The data, released after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the government, excludes arrests made after June 26 and lacks identifying state details in 5% of cases. Nevertheless, it provides the most detailed look yet of national ICE operations. Immigration experts say it is not surprising that California — home to the largest number of undocumented immigrants in the nation and the birthplace of the Chicano movement — lags behind Republican states in the total number of arrests or arrests as a percentage of the population. 'The numbers are secondary to the performative politics of the moment,' said Austin Kocher, a geographer and research assistant professor at Syracuse University who specializes in immigration enforcement. Part of the reason Republican-dominated states have higher arrest numbers — particularly when measured against population — is they have a longer history of working directly with ICE, and a stronger interest in collaboration. In red states from Texas to Mississippi, local law enforcement officers routinely cooperate with federal agents, either by taking on ICE duties through so-called 287(g) agreements or by identifying undocumented immigrants who are incarcerated and letting ICE into their jails and prisons. Indeed, data show that just 7% of ICE arrests made this year in California were made through the Criminal Alien Program, an initiative that requests that local law enforcement identify undocumented immigrants in federal, state and local prisons and jails. That's significantly lower than the 55% of arrests in Texas and 46% in Florida made through prisons or jails. And other conservative states with smaller populations relied on the program even more heavily: 75% of ICE arrests in Alabama and 71% in Indiana took place via prisons and jails. 'State cooperation has been an important buffer in ICE arrests and ICE operations in general for years,' said Ariel Ruiz Soto, a Sacramento-based senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. 'We've seen that states are not only willing to cooperate with ICE, but are proactively now establishing 287(g) agreements with their local law enforcement, are naturally going to cast a wider net of enforcement in the boundaries of that state.' While California considers only some criminal offenses, such as serious felonies, significant enough to share information with ICE; Texas and Florida are more likely to report offenses that may not be as severe, such as minor traffic infractions. Still, even if fewer people were arrested in California than other states, it also witnessed one of the most dramatic increases in arrests in the country. California ranked 30th in ICE arrests per million in February. By June, the state had climbed to 10th place. ICE arrested around 8,460 immigrants across California between Jan. 20 and June 26, a 212% increase compared with the five months before Trump took office. That contrasts with a 159% increase nationally for the same period. Much of ICE's activity in California was hyper-focused on Greater Los Angeles: About 60% of ICE arrests in the state took place in the seven counties in and around L.A. during Trump's first five months in office. The number of arrests in the Los Angeles area soared from 463 in January to 2,185 in June — a 372% spike, second only to New York's 432% increase. Even if California is not seeing the largest numbers of arrests, experts say, the dramatic increase in captures stands out from other places because of the lack of official cooperation and public hostility toward immigration agents. 'A smaller increase in a place that has very little cooperation is, in a way, more significant than seeing an increase in areas that have lots and lots of cooperation,' Kocher said. ICE agents, Kocher said, have to work much harder to arrest immigrants in places like L.A. or California that define themselves as 'sanctuary' jurisdictions and limit their cooperation with federal immigration agents. 'They really had to go out of their way,' he said. Trump administration officials have long argued that sanctuary jurisdictions give them no choice but to round up people on the streets. Not long after Trump won the 2024 election and the L.A. City Council voted unanimously to block any city resources from being used for immigration enforcement, incoming border enforcement advisor Tom Homan threatened an onslaught. 'If I've got to send twice as many officers to L.A. because we're not getting any assistance, then that's what we're going to do,' Homan told Newsmax. With limited cooperation from California jails, ICE agents went out into communities, rounding up people they suspected of being undocumented on street corners and at factories and farms. That shift in tactics meant that immigrants with criminal convictions no longer made up the bulk of California ICE arrests. While about 66% of immigrants arrested in the first four months of the year had criminal convictions, that percentage fell to 30% in June. The sweeping nature of the arrests drew immediate criticism as racial profiling and spawned robust community condemnation. Some immigration experts and community activists cite the organized resistance in L.A. as another reason the numbers of ICE arrests were lower in California than in Texas and even lower than dozens of states by percentage of population. 'The reason is the resistance, organized resistance: the people who literally went to war with them in Paramount, in Compton, in Bell and Huntington Park,' said Ron Gochez, a member of Unión del Barrio Los Angeles, an independent political group that patrols neighborhoods to alert residents of immigration sweeps. 'They've been chased out in the different neighborhoods where we organize,' he said. 'We've been able to mobilize the community to surround the agents when they come to kidnap people.' In L.A., activists patrolled the streets from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m., seven days a week, Gochez said. They faced off with ICE agents in Home Depot parking lots and at warehouses and farms. 'We were doing everything that we could to try to keep up with the intensity of the military assault,' Gochez said. 'The resistance was strong. … We've been able, on numerous occasions, to successfully defend the communities and drive them out of our community.' The protests prompted Trump to deploy the National Guard and Marines in June, with the stated purpose of protecting federal buildings and personnel. But the administration's ability to ratchet up arrests hit a roadblock on July 11. That's when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking immigration agents in Southern and Central California from targeting people based on race, language, vocation or location without reasonable suspicion that they are in the U.S. illegally. That decision was upheld last week by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But on Thursday, the Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court to lift the temporary ban on its patrols, arguing that it 'threatens to upend immigration officials' ability to enforce the immigration laws in the Central District of California by hanging the prospect of contempt over every investigative stop.' The order led to a significant drop in arrests across Los Angeles last month. But this week, federal agents carried out a series of raids at Home Depots from Westlake to Van Nuys. Trump administration officials have indicated that the July ruling and arrest slowdown do not signal a permanent change in tactics. 'Sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don't want: more agents in the communities and more work site enforcement,' Homan told reporters two weeks after the court blocked roving patrols. 'Why is that? Because they won't let one agent arrest one bad guy in the jail.' U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino, who has been leading operations in California, posted a fast-moving video on X that spliced L.A. Mayor Karen Bass telling reporters that 'this experiment that was practiced on the city of Los Angeles failed' with video showing him grinning. Then, as a frenetic drum and bass mix kicked in, federal agents jump out of a van and chase people. 'When you're faced with opposition to law and order, what do you do?' Bovino wrote. 'Improvise, adapt, and overcome!' Clearly, the Trump administration is willing to expend significant resources to make California a political battleground and test case, Ruiz Soto said. The question is, at what economic and political cost? 'If they really wanted to scale up and ramp up their deportations,' Ruiz Soto said, 'they could go to other places, do it more more safely, more quickly and more efficiently.'
Axios
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Noncriminal ICE arrests in Ohio soared in June
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions spiked last month in Ohio and nationwide, new data shows. Why it matters: The numbers illustrate a major shift that came soon after the Trump administration tripled ICE's daily arrest quota from 1,000 to 3,000. They also contradict the Trump administration's claimed focus on criminals living in the country illegally. Catch up quick: Daily immigration arrests in Ohio were already much higher than in the same period last year before the quota increase. State lawmakers are considering further expanding immigration enforcement and punishing interference, which could result in even more arrests, we reported this month. Recent Central Ohio arrests include a Brazilian father paying a traffic ticket, a Mexican grandmother with an expired work visa, and three Hiro Ramen & Tea employees. By the numbers: People without criminal charges or convictions made up an average of 50% of daily ICE arrests in Ohio in June (through June 26). That's up from 29% in May, before the quota increase. How it works: The data comes from the UC Berkeley School of Law's Deportation Data Project via Freedom of Information Act requests and is based on seven-day trailing averages. Context: Being in the U.S. illegally is a civil, not a criminal, violation. But "ICE has the authority to arrest immigrants who are suspected of violating immigration laws, regardless of criminal history," writes Austin Kocher, an immigration expert and Syracuse University researcher, in an analysis of the new data. What they're saying: In an emailed statement, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Axios the official data shows "70% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges." McLaughlin claimed many "non-criminals … just don't have a rap sheet in the U.S." DHS did not answer a follow-up question about the origin of the 70% figure.
USA Today
16-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Nude photos for cash? Immigrants go to new lengths to raise funds to cover legal fees
Immigrants and their families are going online to raise funds to defend against their deportation, from GoFundMe to OnlyFans. In a photo on a former model from Colombia smiles under a white visor as she sunbathes in South Florida. But the snapshot, taken poolside months ago, is far from her current reality: She's locked up in an ICE detention center in Louisiana. The cost of deportation defense can run into the thousands of dollars, and a growing number of immigrant families are resorting to online fundraising to make ends meet. A USA TODAY analysis of fundraising efforts of one of the nation's largest crowdsourcing sites, found dozens of campaigns that have raised more than $1.8 million since President Donald Trump took office, the majority in the past two months. Public generosity to the fundraisers appears to be growing as the president's mass deportation campaign has intensified. Organizers raised $1.7 million in June and July on GoFundMe, compared with about $141,000 in April and May – in step with ICE's expanding immigration enforcement. Before June, many of the fundraisers with the keyword "ICE" were campaigns related to ice hockey, ice cream and the ice bucket challenge, which raises money for ALS patients. GoFundMe declined to discuss the increase with USA TODAY or provide in-house data on immigration-related fundraisers. A spokeswoman said GoFundMe had internally verified 15 campaigns related to immigration detention, meaning both the organizers and beneficiaries have been vetted. didn't respond to a request for comment regarding immigration detention-related accounts. The Colombian woman's page explicitly centers on her ICE detention, playing on the "before" and "after" of her circumstances. USA TODAY spoke with her by video call to the ICE facility where she is detained and, separately, with her husband by cellphone. They requested anonymity out of fear their fundraising effort could impact her upcoming immigration bond hearing. In mid-July, her American-born husband was preparing to drive 14 hours overnight to surprise her at the Louisiana detention facility, where detained women are allowed one, two-hour visit per week. In a video call with USA TODAY, she cradled the phone receiver in front of rows of gray bunks and women moving around in sweats. The cherry-red polish she had on her nails when she was arrested had nearly grown out. Pleas for money answered online To the Department of Homeland Security, detained immigrants are "criminal illegal aliens" to be removed. DHS touts immigrant arrests on its social media pages, with mugshots and candid photos of serious criminal offenders. In reality, the majority of those arrested are not hardened criminals, according to data analysis by immigration researcher Austin Kocher. Federal agents are staking out courthouses to arrest people pursuing legal immigration pathways; raiding farms, racetracks, construction sites and restaurants; and detaining people pulled over by local law enforcement for traffic violations. ICE has prioritized for detention anyone in the United States without lawful status, to include people who have applied to remain legally or who entered under programs that were legal during the Biden administration. 'We look forward to USA Today reporting on fundraising for American victims and our brave law enforcement who are facing a 830% increase in assaults against them,' said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in an emailed statement. More: ICE agents hurt as assaults surge 700% amid aggressive enforcement One of the vetted GoFundMe organizers, 22-year-old Joanna Martinez, posted her family's story to in May after ICE detained her father. José Martinez crossed the border from Mexico nearly 30 years ago, without permission; he has no criminal record. He was on his way to put up drywall in Charlotte, North Carolina, she said, when ICE pulled him over. He spent a month in ICE detention; the $3,665 raised on the site helped post his $4,000 bail. But the family still faces thousands of dollars in legal expenses for his application for legal residency. "I still wake up in the middle of the night crying, worried," she said. "Will this happen again?" The Colombian woman is among those who do face criminal charges. Though she came legally to the United States on a tourist visa and is pursuing legal residency through her spouse, according to their account, she was charged with for driving under the influence in June and turned over to ICE. Still, the pleas for monetary assistance by her and others, chronicle the financial emergencies of family members of missing caregivers and absent providers. Some of the 94 GoFundMe campaigns launched since April have garnered donations in the double-digits; others are well into six-figure territory. A California mother of two whose youngest is still in high school has raised $6,721 in a week. A married Vermont homebuilder who co-owns a business has collected $36,975 since June 18. An Oregon vineyard manager whose expertise in grape-growing is renowned: $150,804 since June 14. In his blurb, Bryant Magaña described the "most painful and confusing time" of his life, after his Mexican wife Yocari was detained during her interview for a green card. "What seemed like a very important and exciting day for both of us, because we were so close to obtaining my wife's legal status, turned into one of our worst nightmares when she was detained by ICE," he said in a campaign that had raised $3,643 as of July 14. Luma Mufleh, chief executive of Kentucky-based Fugees Family, said she hesitated before hitting "send" on a campaign to raise funds for a Bowling Green student who, despite having lawful status, was detained by ICE shortly after his high school graduation. The nonprofit assists student refugees. "I wasn't sure people would support it," she said. "We're raising money in a community that went 60% for Trump. I didn't want the backlash." But the opposite happened: "Within 48 hours we raised $20,000, the bulk of that was from small donors," she said, and the student was released from ICE detention after more than two weeks. Falling in love, hoping to stay The Colombian woman met her husband when he was in a relationship and visiting her country. His parents were raised there and his grandmother is still a resident. The two kept in touch and years later, by then both divorced, they reconnected when she traveled on a tourist visa to South Florida. "One thing led to another and now we're married," he told USA TODAY. This is what freedom looked like before I was detained and locked up. Flowing river, silent nature, "She is beautiful. She likes to look at everything on the bright side. She has a strong belief in God and spirituality. She brought me a lot of peace with that sort of mentality and that sort of attitude," he said. Marrying her "was an easy choice," he said. Deciding to upload scantily clad and nude photos and videos they took as part of their own intimacy was harder. Her OnlyFans handle, @BlondeOnBond, features photos of a voluptuous woman in a skimpy bikini and the tagline: "The Blonde that Shouldn't Get Deported." It has generated a handful of subscriptions, he said. But it hasn't yet drawn in what many of the GoFundMe campaigns have. "I've been hesitant about it because I don't know where it's going to lead, but I'm trying to do anything to come up with the money," he said. Driving Uber full-time was enough for daily expenses, but not for the rapidly escalating cost of legal immigration defense. He estimates he has already spent $15,000, including the cost of her legal residency petition and attorneys to defend her from deportation. "Sometimes I am filled with faith and I think everything is going to turn out okay," the woman told USA TODAY in the video call. But then other times I lose heart." In a photo posted to her accounts, she sits at the edge of a rushing river in a green two-piece bathing suit. The picture is meant to be sexy, but her words are wistful: "This is what freedom looked like before I was detained and locked up." Lauren Villagran can be reached at lvillagran@
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ice arrests of migrants with no criminal history surging under Trump
The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency has exponentially increased the arrest and detention of immigrants without any criminal history since the second Trump administration took office, a data analysis by the Guardian shows. The information sharply contradicts Donald Trump's claims the authorities are targeting 'criminals' for deportation as part of his aggressive anti-immigration agenda. According to numbers gathered from Ice and the Vera Institute of Justice, after Trump returned to the White House in late January there was a steep surge in arrests of immigrants, in general. One of the sharpest increases in arrest numbers has been of immigrants with pending charges, who have not yet been convicted of any crimes. But the biggest increase has been people with no charges at all. Between early January, right before the inauguration, and June, there has been an 807% increase in the arrest of immigrants with no criminal record. The Department of Homeland Security and top White House officials continue to claim that Ice is targeting 'criminals' and 'criminal illegal aliens'. But the Ice data shows the agency is not just targeting those with criminal records. Being undocumented in the US is a civil infraction, not a criminal offense. 'The group of people arrested with only immigration violations used to be very, very small,' said Austin Kocher, an assistant research professor at Syracuse University. 'The data reflects the fact that Ice is in the community, arresting an awful lot of people who don't have criminal histories. It doesn't reflect what the agency has claimed they're doing, which is going after the hardened criminals first, which I don't think the data supports.' Ice is certainly arresting people with criminal records, but the administration has not published data on what crimes people have been convicted of. Detailed statistics on arrestees is not available for 2025, but between October 2022 and November 2024, 78% of people arrested by the agency had a misdemeanor conviction or no conviction at all. Only 21% of people over that two year time period had a felony criminal conviction, a Guardian analysis of monthly Ice enforcement and removal operations shows. It is impossible to know how many people arrested since January have a felony criminal conviction because the government has not released that data. The sharpest increase in non-criminal arrests is following a late-May meeting, in which Trump administration officials yelled at top Ice officials, ordering them to arrest more immigrants. During that meeting, DHS secretary Kristi Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller ordered Ice to arrest at least 3,000 people per day, which would be 1 million per year. Trump ran on a campaign of engaging in 'mass deportations' and since he took office his administration has escalated its tactics to meet that goal. As the Guardian reported this month, on 31 May, top Ice managers instructed officers throughout the country to 'turn the creative knob up to 11' to increase arrests. The internal Ice emails reviewed by the Guardian show officers were told to interview and potentially arrest 'collaterals', meaning people coincidentally present during an arrest. In the past, Ice typically targeted immigrants with arrest warrants. Now more people without any criminal history are being swept up in the dragnet. And the Trump White House has ordered an increase in the number of officials engaging in immigration enforcement operations. Special agents from various federal law enforcement agencies – including the FBI, the DEA, the ATF and Homeland Security Investigations – have been delegated to perform immigration enforcement work. There has also been an increase in the number of local jurisdictions deputized by Ice to carry out immigration enforcement work. The increase in immigration arrests has led to a rise in the number of people detained in Ice facilities nationwide. Kocher has been documenting these numbers closely, and tracked that as of 1 June, there were 51,302 people detained in immigration jails – the highest number since 2019. According to Kocher, the Trump administration has increased the number of people in detention so quickly that it is challenging to provide meaningful oversight. 'We know that these facilities are overcrowded, they're over capacity for what they are designed for,' said Kocher. 'Practically speaking, it means people are sleeping on the floor, they may not be getting enough food, they're almost certainly not getting adequate medical care.' In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security told the Guardian that 'since the beginning of President Trump's second term, we have arrested over 236,000 illegal aliens and have deported over 207,000'. However, according to the government's own data, since October, 186,000 people have been booked into immigration detention for the first time. DHS did not respond to follow-up questions regarding the discrepancy between the government data and the numbers the Trump administration is publicizing. Kocher said, in response to the discrepancy in the numbers: 'I think they're being dishonest and un-transparent because they are counting things in ways they have never been counted before to favor their political agenda and the perception they are trying to send to the base.' For advocates, one of the most outrageous steps has been the practice of engaging in arrests at immigration courts around the country. Asylum seekers going through the lengthy legal process of requesting to stay in the US have been targeted by immigration officials. After government attorneys dismiss their cases, Ice officials waiting in hallways or lobbies have arrested asylum seekers. Organizations are challenging the Trump administration's increasing efforts to arrest people at immigration courts. Last week, Innovation Law Lab, a legal organization that represents immigrants in civil rights cases, filed a suit against the Trump administration in Oregon to block the practice of courthouse arrests. On June 11, some Republican members of congress wrote to Ice expressing concern, saying, in part: 'There are levels of priority that must be considered when it comes to immigration enforcement.' The letter was sent to Todd Lyons, acting director of Ice, from Texas representative Tony Gonzales, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, and five other members of the GOP group. 'Every minute that we spend pursuing an individual with a clean record is a minute less that we dedicate to apprehending terrorists or cartel operatives,' the letter said.
The Guardian
14-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ice arrests of migrants with no criminal history surging under Trump
The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency has exponentially increased the arrest and detention of immigrants without any criminal history since the second Trump administration took office, a data analysis by the Guardian shows. The information sharply contradicts Donald Trump's claims the authorities are targeting 'criminals' for deportation as part of his aggressive anti-immigration agenda. According to numbers gathered from Ice and the Vera Institute of Justice, after Trump returned to the White House in late January there was a steep surge in arrests of immigrants, in general. One of the sharpest increases in arrest numbers has been of immigrants with pending charges, who have not yet been convicted of any crimes. But the biggest increase has been people with no charges at all. Between early January, right before the inauguration, and June, there has been an 807% increase in the arrest of immigrants with no criminal record. The Department of Homeland Security and top White House officials continue to claim that Ice is targeting 'criminals' and 'criminal illegal aliens'. But the Ice data shows the agency is not just targeting those with criminal records. Being undocumented in the US is a civil infraction, not a criminal offense. 'The group of people arrested with only immigration violations used to be very, very small,' said Austin Kocher, an assistant research professor at Syracuse University. 'The data reflects the fact that Ice is in the community, arresting an awful lot of people who don't have criminal histories. It doesn't reflect what the agency has claimed they're doing, which is going after the hardened criminals first, which I don't think the data supports.' Ice is certainly arresting people with criminal records, but the administration has not published data on what crimes people have been convicted of. Detailed statistics on arrestees is not available for 2025, but between October 2022 and November 2024, 78% of people arrested by the agency had a misdemeanor conviction or no conviction at all. Only 21% of people over that two year time period had a felony criminal conviction, a Guardian analysis of monthly Ice enforcement and removal operations shows. It is impossible to know how many people arrested since January have a felony criminal conviction because the government has not released that data. The sharpest increase in non-criminal arrests is following a late-May meeting, in which Trump administration officials yelled at top Ice officials, ordering them to arrest more immigrants. During that meeting, DHS secretary Kristi Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller ordered Ice to arrest at least 3,000 people per day, which would be 1 million per year. Trump ran on a campaign of engaging in 'mass deportations' and since he took office his administration has escalated its tactics to meet that goal. As the Guardian reported this month, on 31 May, top Ice managers instructed officers throughout the country to 'turn the creative knob up to 11' to increase arrests. The internal Ice emails reviewed by the Guardian show officers were told to interview and potentially arrest 'collaterals', meaning people coincidentally present during an arrest. In the past, Ice typically targeted immigrants with arrest warrants. Now more people without any criminal history are being swept up in the dragnet. And the Trump White House has ordered an increase in the number of officials engaging in immigration enforcement operations. Special agents from various federal law enforcement agencies – including the FBI, the DEA, the ATF and Homeland Security Investigations – have been delegated to perform immigration enforcement work. There has also been an increase in the number of local jurisdictions deputized by Ice to carry out immigration enforcement work. The increase in immigration arrests has led to a rise in the number of people detained in Ice facilities nationwide. Kocher has been documenting these numbers closely, and tracked that as of 1 June, there were 51,302 people detained in immigration jails – the highest number since 2019. According to Kocher, the Trump administration has increased the number of people in detention so quickly that it is challenging to provide meaningful oversight. 'We know that these facilities are overcrowded, they're over capacity for what they are designed for,' said Kocher. 'Practically speaking, it means people are sleeping on the floor, they may not be getting enough food, they're almost certainly not getting adequate medical care.' In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security told the Guardian that 'since the beginning of President Trump's second term, we have arrested over 236,000 illegal aliens and have deported over 207,000'. However, according to the government's own data, since October, 186,000 people have been booked into immigration detention for the first time. DHS did not respond to follow-up questions regarding the discrepancy between the government data and the numbers the Trump administration is publicizing. Kocher said, in response to the discrepancy in the numbers: 'I think they're being dishonest and un-transparent because they are counting things in ways they have never been counted before to favor their political agenda and the perception they are trying to send to the base.' For advocates, one of the most outrageous steps has been the practice of engaging in arrests at immigration courts around the country. Asylum seekers going through the lengthy legal process of requesting to stay in the US have been targeted by immigration officials. After government attorneys dismiss their cases, Ice officials waiting in hallways or lobbies have arrested asylum seekers. Organizations are challenging the Trump administration's increasing efforts to arrest people at immigration courts. Last week, Innovation Law Lab, a legal organization that represents immigrants in civil rights cases, filed a suit against the Trump administration in Oregon to block the practice of courthouse arrests.
