Investigating ICE's Mass Detention System: A Conversation with Doug MacMillan of The Washington Post. Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Zoom Registration required. austinkocher.substack.com/p/investigat...

Trumpworld assumed MAGA-adjacent parts of the culture would thrill to ICE brutality. ICE recruits among fans of UFC, Nascar, military tactical equipment. But even MAGA-friendly constituencies and parts of the culture are now rejecting ICE and mass deportations. 5/ newrepublic.com/article/2062...

Baltimore ICE Field Office Closed and the Everyday Grind of the Immigration System - Austin Kocher | Substack

Show Your Work: The Math Behind My Claim that 92% of ICE's Detention Growth Comes from People with No Criminal Convictions -Austin Kocher austinkocher.substack.com?utm_source=n...

Show Your Work: The Math Behind My Claim that 92% of ICE's Detention Growth Comes from People with No Criminal Convictions (Austin Kocher) Main Link | memeorandum Permalink

Are ICE arrests really targeting dangerous criminals — or is the reality far more complicated? Michael is joined by Syracuse professor Dr. Austin Kocher, a leading analyst of immigration enforcement data, to break down what the numbers actually show. Listen on the podcast 🎧 https://bit.ly/4r4gY08

Dr. Austin Kocher returns to the Project Censored Show to unpack immigration stories corporate media ignores, including deadly detention centers, 287(g) policing, and the larger purpose borders serve for state power. www.youtube.com/watch?v=brWc...

Feature: How did U.S. immigration enforcement get so radical, so fast? Austin Kocher on Trump’s refitting of a system his predecessors built. Read on. Link in comments.

Feed: "Austin Kocher" Published on Wednesday, February 4, 2026

“We often talk about bringing immigrants out of the shadows, but this report brings American citizens in mixed-status marriages out of the shadows to show the hardships they face.” Austin Kocher Report Author

Reporters, please do call upon Prof. Heather Hendershot for the history of American film, television, and political culture. Here @profhendershot.bsky.social tells us the Trump administration ″has succeeded where Nixon failed in undermining the mainstream media, harming PBS..."

The Best Source of ICE Detention Data Just Got Better: "Detention Reports" Now Includes Map, New Graph, & Facility Contracts austinkocher.substack.com/p/the-best-s...

I am doing research on examples of debunked cases where ICE/DHS made a claim about arresting, detaining, and deporting a criminal (e.g., "the worst of the worst"). If you have examples, please send them my way via DMs/comments. Thanks.

The Trump admin has shut down the CIA’s World Factbook, a country reference that for six decades has provided data on birth and death rates, major exports, and more. Long used by government officials and by researchers, educators, and journalists, the database was taken offline today.

Austin Kocher : ICE's Mass Detention Infrastructure Meets Resistance in Maryland Mass deportation requires mass detention, but ICE's legitimacy probs catching up... Maryland cnty blocked a facility after the agcy bypassed state transparency laws @austinkocher.com open.substack.com/pub/austinko...

Leavenworth’s Planning Commission voted 5–1 to advance CoreCivic’s zoning request to reopen a shuttered prison as an ICE detention center. The site was previously closed amid violence, understaffing, and failure to report an inmate death. www.kansascity.com/news/politic...

ICE just released new detention statistics. As of January 25, 2026, ICE is detaining 70,766 people across the United States. www.ice.gov/detain/deten...

El Paso City Council voted unanimously to develop limits on future ICE detention facilities, directing staff to explore land-use restrictions, warrant requirements for ICE entry into city buildings, and a full review of cooperation. Report due in 60 days. elpasoheraldpost.com/2026/02/03/e...

Dozens protested at Surprise City Council after ICE bought a $70M warehouse locals fear will become a 1,500-bed detention center. Mayor Kevin Sartor says federal authority leaves the city with little power to stop it. www.azfamily.com/2026/02/04/d...

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara says years of fragile trust-building after George Floyd are being undermined by a federal immigration surge. Local 911 lines are flooded as residents fear ICE tactics and agents call for backup amid protests. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/u...

DHS and ICE quietly purchased a massive Berks County warehouse for $87.4M. The facility has been identified as a possible ICE detention center—just two years after the county closed its family detention center. whyy.org/articles/ber...

The Maryland House moved forward with legislation to prohibit local police from cooperating with ICE under 287(g), brushing aside Republican amendments. Final votes in both chambers are expected Tuesday. marylandmatters.org/2026/02/02/h...

FBI agents searched a Georgia election center and seized 2020 ballots. Reporting shows the director of national intelligence was present, and a phone call indicates President Trump was personally involved in the investigation. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/p...

ICE calls reports of family separation in Minnesota a “false narrative,” claiming officers “cared for” a 5-year-old after arresting his father and took him to a drive-through before detaining them together. Agency also says a church protest was a “riot.” www.wccsradio.com/2026/01/23/i...

The Epstein files are like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The more you watch, the more you’re like, oh I know that guy, he’s in this too huh? Is there anyone left in Hollywood who isn’t in this??

78 metro areas have more undocumented residents than Minneapolis. So why is ICE there? Because Trump can't legally force "sanctuary cities" to cooperate, so he's using violence instead. A sharp legal breakdown of what's really happening. washingtonmonthly.com/2026/02/02/t...

Here's @austinkocher.com on this latest ICE data release: austinkocher.substack.com/p/ices-delay...

Deeper analysis from @austinkocher.com here: austinkocher.substack.com/p/ices-delay...

ICE's Delayed Detention Data is Out, Two Record Highs: 70,000 People Detained, 40,000 on Ankle Monitors austinkocher.substack.com/p/ices-delay...

ICE is withholding public data that Congress requires the agency to publish. This isn't good for anyone, no matter what your politics are. Call your representatives and tell them to release the data! austinkocher.substack.com/p/ice-withho...

ICE agents were spotted in the Lower East Side taking photos and trying to access the back of a coffee shop. A barista asked them to leave, and they did. Now elected officials are going door to door teaching workers their rights. www.amny.com/news/politic...

If you want more context on the missing data mentioned above, @austinkocher.com has a useful post explaining why it matters. austinkocher.substack.com/p/ice-withho...

Days 57-62 in Minnesota: Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort indicted for covering a protest. A 5-year-old ordered released. Agents who killed nurse Alex Pretti identified. Community blockades go up. Federal judges list 96 court violations by ICE. unicornriot.ninja/2026/ice-in-...

USC students joined 200 protesters at the SC Statehouse Friday, part of a national strike sparked by the killing of nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents. "If they will do this to immigrants, they will do this to anyone," said USC student organizer. www.southcarolinapublicradio.org/sc-news/2026...

5-year-old Liam and his father ordered released from ICE detention by federal judge, who slammed the government for "traumatizing children" in pursuit of deportation quotas. The child was detained in Minnesota and moved to Texas. www.jurist.org/news/2026/02...

The Wall Street Journal cited my analysis showing detention growth is driven almost entirely by people without criminal convictions. Here's exactly how I got those numbers. austinkocher.substack.com/p/show-your-...

ICE arrests increased dramatically from 2024 to 2025. Get the facts about immigration data at austinkocher.substack.com.

5.5 million U.S.-born children live in mixed-status families. As ICE enforcement ramps up, deportations are pushing families toward separation, poverty, and foster care, especially when undocumented parents are detained without notice dailybruin.com/2026/01/29/m...

"In the middle of a week of tense budget negotiations that hinge on funding for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is flaunting Congress’s requirement that it produce detention data every two weeks."

ICE Withholds Congressionally Mandated Detention Data: In the midst of heated budget negotiations over immigration enforcement, ICE flouts Congress's prior mandate to publish timely detention data. Article by @austinkocher.com open.substack.com/pub/austinko...

ICE Withholds Congressionally Mandated Detention Data In the midst of heated budget negotiations over immigration enforcement, ICE flouts Congress's prior mandate to publish timely detention data. austinkocher.substack.com/p/ice-withho...

Nationwide “ICE Out” protests hit LA this Fri–Sat, with actions at City Hall, Koreatown, Long Beach, Culver City, and more. Organizers are demanding an end to ICE raids and federal enforcement surges. thelalocal.org/immigration/...

In 2023 NYT laid out Trump’s mass deportation plan: detain immense numbers of people in such miserable conditions that they’re compelled to stop fighting their cases & agree to leave. They’re still getting to “immense numbers.” But the core concept is working for them. mailchi.mp/43a225b48ded...

A reminder that this is how USCIS - a benefits-focused bureaucratic agency, not an enforcement agency - is recruiting for what is actually known as Immigration Service Officer position and they've rebranded is "Homeland Defender." Injecting nationalism into everything. www.usajobs.gov/job/847039500

Schumer has to go.

Tom Homan met with MN sheriffs over ICE detainers as disputes grow over detainee counts and legality. State officials say ICE detainers alone can’t justify holding someone in jail kstp.com/kstp-news/to...

I love Dan Olson's video essay on film over at Folding Ideas, but this latest brief video critique of DHS's weird af social media post about a penguin from a Herzog documentary take the cake. Worth watching. www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7Wq...

ICE is required to report the deaths of detained immigrants, but does not have to report on injuries/deaths that happen during arrests incl 24 recent violent/fatal arrests. Congress needs to fix this by required full 360-reporting on ICE deaths. documentedny.com/2026/01/27/t...

Remember: ICE is no longer an immigration enforcement agency. It's a right wing social media influencer account with guns and camps.

Trump's immigration approval is underwater. ICE favorability is 50/50. Most Democrats and independents oppose current tactics. Yet some elected Democrats still say Trump "won the immigration debate." Ernesto Castañeda explains why that's wrong and what the data actually shows.