Latino ICE arrests have skyrocketed since January, report shows

A new analysis reveals a sharp escalation in immigration enforcement for the first six months of President Trump’s second administration, targeting Latino communities at unprecedented levels. 

“The data reveal a clear and troubling pattern,” said Paul Ong, Director of CNK. “Arrests in Latino communities have increased sharply without any evidence linking many of these arrests to higher crime levels. This indicates that ICE operations during Trump’s second term are largely driven by political and demographic targeting rather than just targeting the ‘worst of the worst.’”

The report was conducted by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs’ Center for Neighborhood Knowledge (CNK), in partnership with Unseen, a new initiative dedicated to illuminating the contributions and challenges of unseen Americans through data analysis and community engagement.

The analysis finds that Latinos accounted for nine out of ten Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests during the first six months of 2025. Arrests nearly doubled during Trump’s first 100 days in office and rose even further after senior advisor Stephen Miller announced a daily target of 3,000 arrests. The dataset used in the report comes from UC Berkeley School of Law’s Deportation Data Project.

Trump’s first hundred days had an average of 558 Latino arrests per day compared with 276 during the pre-Trump period (January 1, 2024, to January 19, 2025). Arrests were heavily concentrated among individuals from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela, which experienced the most dramatic increase, with a 361% rise in arrests.

Community-based enforcement surged under Trump, growing by 255%, a departure from previous administrations, which focused on deporting incarcerated individuals at the federal, state, and local levels. 

In June, when ICE descended upon Los Angeles, there was a 675% increase in community arrests. 

Institutional arrests are those made through ICE’s Criminal Alien Program, in which ICE identifies and arrests individuals incarcerated at federal, state, and local levels. Community arrests are those in which ICE agents locate and arrest individuals in their everyday environments, such as worksites, schools, and public spaces.

Many of the arrests in L.A. and surrounding communities have occurred outside of Home Depots where day laborers gather, at car wash businesses, gardeners mowing lawns or people selling paletas on the street. 

Enforcement increases were greatest in Texas, Florida, California, Georgia and Virginia

"This research reveals a clear shift toward more expansive, militarized and punitive immigration enforcement,” said Sonja Diaz, founding director of the Unseen Initiative. "The preponderance of community-based arrests under the Trump Administration, combined with the doubling and even tripling of arrests of people of Mexican, Honduran, and Guatemalan descent, undermines public trust in law enforcement and jeopardizes public safety for communities across the U.S., not just immigrant enclaves."

The complete report, including methodology, is available here.