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The new data released on ICE arrests, detentions, and removals shows just how much the Trump administration lied about Operation Midway Blitz and other splashy raids on blue cities.

The data we are getting out of ICE now conclusively destroys their "worst of the worst" narrative. Since the Los Angeles raids began in June last year, there has been a massive expansion of ICE arrests against people with no criminal record, while arrests of others remained flat.

“The data released March 30 is the most detailed look at the effect of the three-month enforcement surge that brought thousands of protesters into the streets and left two U.S. citizens dead.” www.startribune.com/ice-action-t...

A First Look at the Latest ICE Arrest Data Published by the Deportation Data Project ICE arrest data just arrived with incredibly useful new fields, updated trends in who ICE is targeting and where, and deeper understanding of the enforcement system. austinkocher.substack.com/p/a-first-lo...

Despite the administration touting that they arrested the "worst of the worst" in Minnesota, data shows fewer than 1/4 of those arrested had a criminal conviction. A little more than 13% had pending criminal charges. Most just had civil immigration violations. share.google/zzg3s8bjyWb6...

Per @deportationdata.org, of the 192 people ICE detained during Operation Catch of the Day, only 11 had a past conviction. FIVE of them were for misdemeanors. ICE isn’t just going after the “worst of the worst.” They want to deport as many people as possible—no matter how much trauma they inflict.

Quick and dirty; here's ICE arrests in Minnesota by criminality, from October 2025 to early March 2026. Note the MASSIVE spike in arrests of people with no criminal record /"convicted criminal" means any conviction no matter how minor. "Other immigration violator" means no known criminal record.

Thanks to a FOIA lawsuit from @deportationdata.org, Minnesota is getting its first credible numbers on arrests during the federal government's surge here this winter. About 3,800 Minnesota residents were arrested. Most from Latin America (only 106 from Somalia). (1)

NEW! We released updated individual-level ICE data, including every ICE encounter, detainer request, arrest, book-in to detention, and removal between 10/1/2022 and 3/10/2026. This adds ~5 months of data to the previous release, which ran through 10/15/2025, and 11 months of data from FY2023.

Today we posted a new, simplified version of the EOIR immigration courts dataset for removal cases - which we'll update each month. EOIR tracks every decision on the merits of an immigration case & bond outcomes, applications for relief, immigration charges, appeals, and detention. More 👇

ICE locks tens of thousands of detainees nationwide in a network of 170 "hold rooms" spread across 49 states, which are forbidden from containing beds. Today, we are publishing location and detainee information about all 170 facilities. coloradotimesrecorder.com/2026/03/excl...

“… city leaders have had one conversation with DHS, during which they said all their objections and concerns went unheard. So the city has taken steps of its own. 'There is a lock on the meter,’ said Eric Taylor, city manager for Social Circle.” www.gpb.org/news/2026/03...

@foianate.bsky.social gets Sunshine Week started off right with a blistering FOIA investigation!

Letter from Colorado Senators and Representatives on ICE's increased use of holding cells for detention: "According to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project through the Freedom of Information Act, between January and October 2025, more than 3,000 individuals were held in these locations."

Six Colorado Democrats on Wednesday demanded answers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on the agency’s apparent violations of its own rules governing the detention of immigrants in holding rooms in nondescript locations across the state. By @chasewoodruff.bsky.social

New UWCHR analysis of recently released data confirms what Northwest migrant communities have been reporting—a dramatic uptick in enforcement. Immigration arrests increased significantly in the PNW, reaching near-historic levels during late 2025. Read the full report: tinyurl.com/2025PNWtrends

🚨NEW: Last year, the number of people incarcerated in the U.S. increased again. The driving factor? President Trump’s deportation agenda. Our annual report, The Whole Pie, gives the big picture of mass incarceration. Here are some key takeaways 🧵

The Deportation Data Project is hiring a fulltime senior research analyst to work with us on obtaining data on immigration enforcement in the US. Competitive salary, excellent University of California benefits, and work on a small, collaborative team. Join us! deportationdata.org/hiring.html

By analyzing records obtained by @deportationdata.org, I found that the total number of people who have experienced ICE detention in the first 9 months of the Trump admin amounts to the population of a mid-sized city.

Racial profiling is the most important immigration policy in the last year. We went from having effectively no problem with this at all in January 2025 to over 2,000 people per week being arrested for no reason (and that number excludes all the US citizens targeted)

The Deportation Data Project is hiring a fulltime senior research analyst to work with us on obtaining data on immigration enforcement in the US. Competitive salary, excellent University of California benefits, and work on a small, collaborative team. Join us! deportationdata.org/hiring.html

The Massachusetts Department of Correction has been fighting me for months, trying to withhold data about its collaboration with ICE. Yesterday, I won that fight, and obtained records showing that the state has transferred more than 2,000 people into ICE custody since 2009. A quick thread:

Worst of the worst? Government records show that the vast majority – 77% – of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time in 2025 had no criminal conviction, exposing a stark gap between the Trump administration’s rhetoric and reality. @wcraft.bsky.social breaks it down:

Last May, Tennessee Highway Patrol joined ICE on the streets of Nashville. We @lighthousereports.com + partners mapped the traffic stops and used 1M+ ICE records, dashcam video, and court files to show how supposed routine encounters became deportations.

Powerful piece hitting on one of the drivers behind ICE's strategy: arrest immigrants & put them in awful places so they lose hope & "voluntary" leave: "...voluntary departures increased 21-fold during the first nine months of 2025, according to an analysis from the Deportation Data Project."

“They told me it was voluntary departure, but that I didn’t have another option,” Jaime told Borderless in Spanish.” “When they’re in these detention centers, they’re often coerced,” said Kimberly Weiss, Jaime’s attorney. “They’re pushed. They’re intimidated.”

The number of people held in ICE detention on any given day rose by over 75% in 2025, with a record 73,000 people being held in detention as of mid-January. And with Congress authorizing $45 billion in new detention funding, the system could more than triple in size over the next four years.

Data obtained by the Deportation Data Project from the federal agency indicates that the Otay Mesa detention facility exceeded its contractual capacity of 1,358 from July 23 to Oct. 15. www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/02/20/h...

The Trump admin claims they have been arresting the worst of the worst. But the Guardian, working with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sued the govt for docs that show that isn't true. 77% of people who entered deportation proceedings in 2025 had no criminal conviction My latest:

New ICE Flight Monitor report reveals surge in ICE flights across the country, deepening concerns over due process and community safety.

A recent report from the Deportation Data Project revealed that ICE quadrupled during the first nine months of Trump’s second term. Additionally: ➡️ Deportations and street arrests surged ➡️ Arrests of people with no criminal record rose 600 percent www.kqed.org/news/1207137...

New in @dmagazine.bsky.social "In June 2025, DHS waived the original 12-hour limit on holding people at field offices, increasing it to 72 hours...between July and October 15, at least 336 people were held at the Dallas ICE field office for more than 72 hours." www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/...

NEW! We posted a processed dataset to our website that allows users to view daily counts of the number of people detained at each detention facility holding individuals in ICE custody from September 1, 2023, to October 15, 2025.