Latino ICE Arrests Have Surged Since January, New Data Show

(UNITED STATES) Latino ICE arrests have surged dramatically since January 2025, with new data showing a sharp nationwide rise in street arrests of immigrants who have no criminal history or prior removal orders. Since January 20, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted about 15,000 street arrests of immigrants with no criminal convictions, charges, or removal orders; nearly half, about 7,000, occurred in June alone, and 90% of those arrested were immigrants from Latin America, according to recent data compilations and multiple reports. One in five ICE arrests is now a Latino immigrant picked up on the street with no criminal history or removal order, underscoring how the agency’s field operations have shifted toward on-the-spot apprehensions in public spaces.

The surge in street arrests has become a flashpoint for immigrant communities and civil rights advocates, who point to evidence that operations are concentrating on Latino neighborhoods and workplaces, often without prior contact with police or immigration courts.

“ICE is arresting thousands of people in random locations—what it calls ‘non-specific’ or ‘general’ areas—who had no prior contact with law enforcement: the telltale sign of illegal profiling,” according to the Deportation Data Project.
Researchers at UCLA, in a July analysis, reported that “Latinos make up 60% of non-citizen immigrants and 71% of the undocumented population, but accounted for 92% of ICE arrests” in early 2025, and said their statistical review found no link between enforcement levels and crime.

The UCLA July 2025 report said, “The multivariate analysis shows that arrest rates do not have a statistically significant association with overall crime rates nor estimated immigrant crime rates.” Instead, the same study concluded that “arrests patterns were more strongly driven by political alignment, specifically by states most supportive of the President’s anti-immigrant rhetoric,” suggesting enforcement intensity tracked political signals rather than public safety metrics or the size of the non-citizen population. ICE arrest rates were also strongly correlated with the Latino share of the non-citizen population in each state, not with crime rates or overall immigrant population size, according to the analysis.

What has changed most visibly on the ground is the prevalence of street arrests. These are arrests that happen in public places rather than after a person is identified through jail transfers or court records. Advocates and attorneys describe agents waiting near workplaces, hardware stores, and neighborhood hubs, then approaching individuals based on their appearance or language. Tactics include targeting workers in heavily Latino jobs and neighborhoods, often based on community tips or simply on physical appearance and location. Tom Homan, former acting ICE director, described ICE and Border Patrol detaining people “based on the location, their occupation, their physical appearance, their actions like…the person walks away.” ICE has said previously that its mission is to enforce immigration law and remove those without lawful status, though public data often lags behind on-the-ground activity. The agency’s general overview of arrest and removal operations is posted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Street-level operations spiked in June, when nearly 7,000 arrests targeted immigrants with no criminal record or removal order, and remained elevated through the summer. According to reporting cited by the Deportation Data Project, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller in mid-May told ICE to stop “develop[ing] target lists of immigrants” and instead “go out on the streets” and arrest people “right away” at places like Home Depot or 7‑Eleven. Inside the agency, the acting head of Enforcement and Removal Operations, Marcos Charles, pushed a far more aggressive posture. He told agents to “turn up the creative knob up to 11 and push the envelope…If it involves handcuffs on wrists, it’s probably worth pursuing.” Those directives, memorialized in internal guidance and reported by multiple outlets, were followed by the June spike and a continuation of field sweeps that community groups say have spread fear across Latino communities.

The numbers captured by advocacy trackers and local records align with the national picture. In Connecticut, ICE made 405 arrests from January through July 2025, more than double the 173 arrests during the same period in 2024. Most deportations in that state were to Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. In the Buffalo region, 335 arrests were recorded through mid-June 2025, up from 83 last year. In Berks County, Pennsylvania, ICE has ramped up enforcement with an average of 13 daily arrests since January 20, 2025, a 249% increase from 2024. Community organizers in both states describe agents moving through parking lots, outside courthouses, and near construction sites, appearing to question and detain people on the basis of language, appearance, or location.

“This past week we saw, we experienced, we felt, and we witnessed terror of state sponsored violence, intimidation, kidnapping for disappearances,” said Juan Fonseca Tapia, an organizer with Greater Danbury United for Immigrants, after ICE arrested between 12 and 15 people near the Danbury Superior Courthouse in June.
The arrests near public buildings have rattled families who rely on those spaces for legal appointments, school events, and social services. Attorneys say clients are asking whether it is safe to travel to work or court, and whether simple errands could trigger a stop. “We’ve had clients indicate that ICE has gone to their workplace … but we haven’t had anyone tell us that they were detained,” said Bridget Cambria, an attorney for Aldea – the People’s Justice Center in Berks County, Pennsylvania, who said heightened patrols have been visible and unnerving.

The effect of the enforcement wave is evident in detention numbers. As of September 21, 2025, ICE was holding 59,762 people in detention nationwide, and 71.5% of them—42,755 people—had no criminal conviction on record. Of those with convictions, many were for minor offenses such as traffic violations, according to the data collated by advocates. Texas led all states in the number of people detained by ICE in fiscal year 2025, with 13,415 people in custody. Those figures capture only who is inside detention on a particular day, not the total number of people who have been arrested and released under monitoring, or those quickly transferred or removed from the country.

Civil rights groups have accused ICE of illegal profiling and have sought court orders to rein in street stops they say are based on race, ethnicity, and language rather than individualized suspicion. A district court in Los Angeles ordered ICE to stop street profiling in July, and the order was upheld by an appeals court, but for now the ruling applies only to the Los Angeles area. Advocates say the localized scope leaves most of the country without similar protections, even as enforcement ramped up. The narrow geography of the court order has become a focal point as organizations weigh additional lawsuits in other jurisdictions, arguing that the same patterns of profiling exist elsewhere.

Policy watchers say the pattern of arrests since January tells a consistent story: more activity in states with larger Latino non-citizen populations and greater alignment with anti-immigrant political messages, and less clear linkage to criminal justice metrics. The UCLA report stated that arrest rates were strongly correlated with the Latino share of the non-citizen population and not with crime rates, a finding that has shaped the debate over public safety justifications for workplace and street operations. Latino ICE arrests have also become a barometer for community trust, with local leaders reporting a drop in attendance at schools and clinics on days when vans and unmarked cars are seen near public gathering spots.

On the streets, the tactics have shifted from what ICE calls “targeted” operations—based on prior contact with the criminal justice system—toward “non-specific” or “general” areas, where officers approach people without prior police records or pending removal orders. The Deportation Data Project’s statement that ICE is arresting “thousands of people in random locations” echoes what residents have described in towns from Danbury to Reading, where word spreads quickly via WhatsApp and church bulletins about sweep days and checkpoints. The emphasis on street arrests has been a defining feature since January 2025, with community groups collecting dates, times, and locations to build a record they hope can be used in court challenges or policy appeals.

Inside immigrant households, the response ranges from rearranged morning routines to avoid known patrol times, to carrying copies of children’s school documents in case parents are stopped. Employers in construction and food service report late arrivals and unfilled shifts after a week of dense enforcement activity. Lawyers say many of those picked up in street arrests are encountering the system for the first time, lacking prior removal orders and without criminal charges, which means they must start from scratch with legal screenings, bond requests, and potential claims for relief. For people without resources or relatives in the United States, the shift to street arrests can translate into immediate detention without a plan, especially in places like Texas, which leads the country for the number of ICE detainees in custody.

Regional snapshots underscore how quickly the enforcement picture has changed. In Connecticut, the jump to 405 arrests in the first seven months of 2025 has been felt in court corridors and outside social service offices, where volunteers wait to guide families toward legal help. In western New York, the rise to 335 arrests by mid-June has revived debates with local police about the limits of cooperation and information-sharing. In Pennsylvania’s Berks County, the average of 13 daily arrests since January 20, 2025 has reshaped the rhythms of local life, from soccer practices to weekend grocery runs. Advocates there point to reports of ICE vehicles stationed near construction sites and discount stores. Cambria’s note that “we haven’t had anyone tell us that they were detained” at workplaces may reflect a pattern of near-misses and visible presence that unsettles workers even when arrests do not occur on-site.

The federal push behind the surge has drawn scrutiny. The Wall Street Journal reported that Stephen Miller urged ICE in May to stop “develop[ing] target lists of immigrants” and to “go out on the streets” and make arrests “right away” at retail chains and home improvement stores. At the same time, internal guidance from Marcos Charles instructing agents to “turn up the creative knob up to 11 and push the envelope…If it involves handcuffs on wrists, it’s probably worth pursuing” signaled a green light for field improvisation. Those messages have been read by immigrant advocates as a directive to expand street arrests and test legal boundaries, while supporters say the agency is acting within its mandate to enforce immigration law.

While the legal challenges mount, the numbers continue to climb. The 15,000 estimated street arrests of immigrants with no criminal convictions, charges, or removal orders since January 20, 2025—with 90% of those arrested coming from Latin America—highlight how Latino ICE arrests now anchor the national enforcement picture. The factor that most reliably predicts where arrests will concentrate is not crime rates or total immigrant numbers, researchers say, but the share of Latino non-citizens in a state, along with political cues. That dynamic helps explain why some regions experienced dramatic escalations in street encounters and why fear has spread beyond those directly targeted.

Community organizations are urging families to document encounters, know their rights during stops, and prepare emergency plans. Lawyers are bracing for a wave of new cases from people with no prior ICE record, which typically requires labor-intensive intake and screening. The immediate outlook suggests that street arrests will remain central to ICE’s strategy, especially in neighborhoods and workplaces with visible Latino populations. What is less clear is whether court challenges will extend beyond Los Angeles or whether federal directives will shift if the data continues to show little correlation with public safety measures.

For now, the pattern that took shape in January 2025 shows no sign of reversing. With arrests in Connecticut doubling year over year, Buffalo quadrupling from 83 to 335 by mid-June, and Berks County posting a 249% increase in daily arrests since January 20, 2025, the enforcement wave is reshaping daily life across multiple states. Families in Latino neighborhoods say they are watching for vans before walking children to school, employers are adjusting shifts to reduce exposure to sweep times, and community groups are juggling hotlines and court accompaniment.

“This past week we saw, we experienced, we felt, and we witnessed terror of state sponsored violence, intimidation, kidnapping for disappearances,” said Fonseca Tapia in Danbury, reflecting a mood that many organizers say has now settled over a much wider map.

As detention numbers climb and cases with no criminal convictions fill dockets, the nationwide spike in street arrests has become the central immigration story of the year. ICE’s own detention rolls as of September 21, 2025—59,762 in custody, 71.5% without a criminal conviction—offer a tally of who is being swept up. The growth of Latino ICE arrests since January 2025, driven by aggressive field operations and backed by directives to act “right away,” has widened the gap between enforcement rhetoric about public safety and the data showing most of those arrested had no prior contact with law enforcement. That gap is likely to be tested in more courts, even as the agency’s vans continue to roll through parking lots, sidewalks, and street corners where families still pause before stepping outside.