Noncriminal ICE arrests surge in Washington, Oregon and Alaska
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More than half of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests last month in Washington, Oregon and Alaska involved people with no criminal charges or convictions — a sharp increase from recent norms, newly obtained data shows.
Why it matters: The numbers illustrate a major shift that came soon after the Trump administration tripled ICE's arrest quota.
Zoom in: In June, people without criminal charges or convictions made up an average of 53% of daily ICE arrests in the area covered by the agency's Seattle field office (Oregon, Washington and Alaska).
- That's up from 28% in April, before the quota increase.
- The average number of daily arrests for those with charges or convictions also increased in June, but not to the same degree.
How it works: The data was obtained by the UC Berkeley School of Law's Deportation Data Project via Freedom of Information Act requests, and is based on seven-day trailing averages.
Zoom out: As of June 26 — the most recent data available — ICE was reporting a nationwide average of 930 arrests per day, about 42% of which involved people without charges or convictions.
The big picture: The spike in non-criminal ICE arrests came despite the Trump administration's claimed focus on criminals living in the country illegally.
- And it happened just after the Trump administration told ICE to arrest at least 3,000 people daily, up from 1,000.
Context: Being in the U.S. illegally, such as by overstaying a visa, is a civil, not criminal, violation.
What they're saying: Malou Chávez, executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, told Axios the only way for ICE to meet its new quota is to arrest people who have no criminal backgrounds.
- That's "creating so much fear" locally — even among immigrants who aren't undocumented, she said.
- "The reality is they are going after anyone who they see as a potential person they can place in deportation proceedings," Chávez said.
The other side: Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin disputed reports that ICE isn't targeting criminal immigrants, telling Axios by email that some people labeled "non-criminals" are "actually terrorists, human rights abusers or gang members — they just lack a U.S. criminal record."
What we're watching: New legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle) would stop ICE from detaining — and possibly deporting — U.S. citizens.