Aggressive actions of ICE deepen cracks in US society

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ICE, a subdivision of the Department of Homeland Security, has a stated mission is to protect the US from cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.

One day into office, Trump declared a national emergency at the US' southern border, revoked protections that limited enforcement at schools, churches and hospitals, and increased arrest operations.

Soon after, the Trump administration shut down numerous immigration programs started by the previous Biden administration, began worksite raids, and increased operations to arrest and deport illegal immigrants.

In the summer of 2025, ICE received a huge boost from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act with $75 billion allocated for four years until 2029.

In 2025 alone, ICE received approximately $29 billion. About $11.25 billion was allocated to build detention centers across the country with a total of 100,000 to 116,000 beds. Another $7.5 billion was used for hiring new ICE officers, and arresting and deporting individuals.

ICE announced that its force had more than doubled in 2025 to 22,000 from 10,000 a year ago. New recruits, enjoying a $50,000 sign-up bonus, have been hastily deployed on the streets after eight weeks of training.

Charles Foster, an immigration lawyer and founding chair of the Asia Society Texas Center, said the unprecedented amount of funding allowed "ICE to go on a hiring spree by lowering its standards and training".

Investigations have found that many new recruits have been sent into the field without proper training. Some recruits were deployed before their background checks were completed.

Foster said that the mass deportations have been carried out "in ways never seen or contemplated before".

"The focus was on deporting 'the worst of the worst' criminals, but the vast majority of individuals detained are simply hardworking individuals who have been here, often for decades, with one or more US citizen children and even spouses," he told China Daily.

"For the most part, even the so-called criminals being arrested and deported are those with prior convictions where the sentence has been served … or (they've) simply been charged, but with no conviction," he said.

Aggressive deportation has led to "a 2,450 percent increase in the number of people with no criminal record held in ICE detention on any given day", said a newly released report by the American Immigration Council.

Overall, immigrant arrests increased 600 percent in Trump's first nine months in office, the report said.