Inside ICE's enforcement strategy in Central Texas
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As fears ripple through immigrant communities, ICE enforcement in Central Texas is playing out largely behind the scenes — with people transferred from local jails to federal custody after minor arrests.
Why it matters: About 1 in 4 ICE arrests nationwide are happening in Texas, per an analysis from the Texas Tribune, yet the state isn't seeing the major sweeps that Democrat-led cities like Minneapolis, Los Angeles, New York or Chicago have.
- More than half of ICE arrests were made at local jails, per the Tribune.
What they're saying: "In some ways Austin has been spared some of the heavy, heavy enforcement elsewhere — but that doesn't mean communities here feel safer (from ICE)," Edna Yang, co-executive director of American Gateways, an Austin-based nonprofit that provides legal services to immigrants, tells Axios.
- "With increased enforcement means increased fear. Based on our observations, these are not criminals like major drug traffickers or with a long felony list getting picked up," she says.
- "These are people who entered the U.S. without documents, and that's it. They're picked up in jails for minor arrests like driving without a license."
By the numbers: At least 1,750 detainers — requests from ICE for a local jail to hold a person until the agency can arrest them — were sent to Austin-area jails between late January and mid-October 2025. That resulted in 645 immigrants being removed from the U.S., per data from the Deportation Data Project analyzed by Axios.
- The number of detainers was 1,140 during the same period in 2024, resulting in 470 removals.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not return Axios' requests for comment about its operations in Texas.
The big picture: Sweeps in Texas have been less prominent than in some liberal cities.
- Álvaro Corral, a political scientist at UT-Rio Grande Valley who specializes in U.S. Latino politics, tells Axios that one reason the Trump administration may not have ordered many big ICE raids in Texas is politics — Abbott and others don't want to turn off Latino voters here.
Yes, but: Multiple ICE operations have occurred in Central Texas this month, including several detainments in Hays County last week.
Zoom out: Tensions have been building after federal authorities killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday — less than a month after the shooting of Renee Good — and after a 5-year-old boy was detained last week.
- In Austin, protesters opposing ICE's operations have gathered throughout January. Five demonstrators were arrested outside the J.J. Pickle Federal Building recently.
What's next: Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis and several City Council members will hold a conversation at 6pm Tuesday on police policies that impact the immigrant community.
- Residents can join in person at the Govalle Elementary School cafeteria or by Zoom with an RSVP.
- Meanwhile, another anti-ICE protest is scheduled for 5:30pm Tuesday in front of the south entrance of the Capitol.