ICE arrests rise across Pittsburgh region
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ICE arrests in Southwestern Pennsylvania have nearly tripled under President Trump, per federal data obtained by the Deportation Data Project and reviewed by Axios Pittsburgh.
The big picture: Pittsburgh hasn't been an immigrant hot spot in over a century — and still isn't — but the region is still feeling the effects of a national crackdown on immigrant communities.
By the numbers: From Trump's inauguration in January through July, ICE made at least 580 arrests in about a 70-mile radius of Pittsburgh — nearly three times as many as the roughly 210 in the same period a year earlier, federal data shows.
- Over half of those arrests involved people with no prior criminal record, per the analysis.
Context: The numbers mark a sharp shift following the Trump administration's decision to triple ICE's arrest quota earlier this year.
How it works: The Deportation Data Project is an independent effort by researchers and lawyers that uses public records requests to ICE and other federal agencies to compile immigration enforcement data.
Catch up quick: Regional ICE activity, which sometimes takes place in coordination with local law enforcement, is most often reported at businesses, courthouses and during routine traffic stops, says Jaime Martinez, an organizer with Casa San José tracking immigration enforcement.
- Coordinated raids and other enforcement activities made headlines all summer, including those at 1942 Tacos and Tequila in Beaver County, Thai Foon in Robinson, Tepache in Marshall and two Emiliano's locations. Some businesses were left with property damage and less staff. Martinez said officers often arrived masked and carrying guns.
- In late July, ICE and local authorities swept through Ambridge in Beaver County — home to a growing Latino community — and arrested at least 10 people in what police called a "saturation operation."
Between the lines: Pittsburgh Police and Allegheny County officers have not agreed to cooperate with ICE, but several local agencies do help federal immigration officials.
- Eight area agencies have signed ICE agreements as of Wednesday.
Zoom in: Recently, the Pittsburgh area has been home to few undocumented immigrants.
- Estimates from 2019, the most recent that provide county-level breakdowns, showed Allegheny County had 9,000 undocumented immigrants (just 0.1% of a population of over 1.2 million), per the Migration Policy Institute.
- More recent estimates from 2023 are available for state totals, and show Pennsylvania with 153,000–300,000 undocumented immigrants (or 1%–2% of the total state population), according to data from Pew, the Center for Migration Studies and the Migration Policy Institute
What they're saying: "There is some serious generational trauma occurring every day because of the federal administration," Martinez said. "People are leaving, and that's to the detriment of everyone."
Friction point: Heightened ICE visibility is putting Pittsburgh's immigrant community under strain, Martinez said. Rumors of unmarked vehicles on Facebook can empty classrooms and job sites, he said, as families stay home out of fear. Some families are splitting up, he added, with some members weighing self-deportation while others stay.
- U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-Swissvale) has criticized the local raids and said that the Trump administration is exceeding its authority. On Monday, she was blocked from visiting the Moshannon Valley ICE detention center in Clearfield County — the Northeast's largest ICE detention facility — and she criticized a new Trump administration rule requiring advance notice for DHS site visits on the grounds that it lacks transparency.
The other side: ICE officials told NBC News after the Emiliano's raids that "all agents and officers followed established legal procedures while executing the warrants."
- "Keeping President Trump's promise to deport illegal aliens is something the administration takes seriously," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Axios after efforts to increase immigration enforcement were announced in May.
The bottom line: ICE will see increased funding in the upcoming years due to Trump's "big beautiful bill," which the administration said will approximately double immigrant detention capacity and significantly bolster immigration enforcement officers.