This story first appeared in Power Shift, The Yappie's weekly newsletter on national AAPI power, politics, and influence. Subscribe for free here.
When federal immigration officers killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota earlier this year, White House border czar Tom Homan said he’d draw back ICE enforcement operations—including raids at schools, homes, and other neighborhood locations—if cities and states voluntarily assist ICE by handing over undocumented immigrants already in jail.
- Minnesota did see its surge wind down once Homan withdrew 700 agents in early February. But the trade-off hasn’t held across the nation, according to a new report.
The daily average of community ICE arrests (such as at homes and workplaces) and of arrests at law enforcement locations (such as courthouses) has each risen more than 450% since 2024, per the Prison Policy Initiative’s (PPI) analysis of federal data obtained by the Deportation Data Project.
- Arrests via jail detainers, where local jails honor an ICE request to hold someone past their release date so agents can pick them up, increased 144%.
States that refuse ICE cooperation, however, end up with fewer overall arrests, PPI found. From January to early August, Illinois and Oregon—both of which restrict local law enforcement’s work with ICE—had annualized arrest rates around or under 30 per 100,000 residents.
- That number climbs to 166 in Georgia and 226 in Florida, where arrests include mandatory immigration status checks and undocumented immigrants facing certain state charges are barred from bail release before ICE can arrive.
What we’re watching: Plainsclothes ICE agents appeared to apprehend and transport an Asian woman into an unmarked van outside Los Angeles International Airport in a video that went viral last week.
While it’s as of yet unclear why they detained her, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council noted on X that ICE agents are increasingly showing up at airports to arrest asylum applicants who “overstay” due to federal processing delays.
Our take: As PPI’s analysis shows, the way that she was abducted—in plain clothes and in plain sight—is likely to continue regardless of local law enforcement agencies’ cooperation with ICE.
- Transparency remains an ongoing conversation despite the U.S. Department of Homeland Security rejecting the Government Accountability Office’s recommendation for ICE agents to wear body cameras that automatically activate once weapons are drawn.
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