Trump Administration Expands ICE Arrests and Airport Deployments

The Donald Trump administration has significantly scaled up immigration enforcement through regional arrest surges and new data-sharing practices. Between January 2025 and March 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 20,000 people in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region, a sharp increase from the 3,800 arrests during Joe Biden's final year. In Washington, D.C., these efforts followed a declared "crime emergency" in August 2025, though arrests slowed after Judge Beryl A. Howell ruled in December 2025 that warrantless arrests likely violated federal law.

Enforcement has also intensified in Washington state, where over 2,100 people were arrested between October 2025 and March 2026. Data from the Deportation Data Project indicates that a significant portion of detainees in both the D.C. region and Washington state lack criminal records, contradicting administration claims of focusing on criminals. In response, the Washington state Legislature passed laws banning law enforcement face coverings and restricting automated license plate readers.

Additionally, ICE has arrested more than 800 people using traveler data from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Secure Flight Program. To address staffing shortages caused by a DHS budget standoff, the administration deployed ICE agents to over a dozen airports to assist with security. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reported that the broader crackdown led to nearly 3 million illegal aliens leaving the U.S. and the recovery of 132,720 unaccompanied children.