ICE arrests of children surge to over twice last year's level through July
ICE has detained more than twice as many children this year through July compared with the same period last year, totaling over 8,500 arrests in President Donald Trump’s second term.
ICE’s child arrests have more than doubled this year through July compared with the same period last year, bringing the total to over 8,500 children detained during President Donald Trump’s second term. The surge follows the widely publicized arrest of 5-year-old Liam Ramos, prompting celebrity advocacy and protests demanding the closure of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center. Attorneys say many of the detained children are placed in hotels or office hold rooms where access to food, privacy and legal assistance is limited.
State-by-state data reveal the sharpest increases in Massachusetts, Florida, New York and New Jersey. The analysis, based on the Deportation Data Project, highlights that most of these arrests involve civil immigration violations without criminal convictions. The Department of Homeland Security has challenged the data’s accuracy but offered no alternative statistics, and a federal judge has ordered ICE to limit the use of hotels for child detention.
Why it matters
The sharp rise in child arrests raises concerns about due process, family separation, and the conditions of detention for vulnerable minors.
How this story developed
- Aug 13 San Antonio immigrants live in constant fear as ICE arrests surge
- Sep 1 ICE carried out a raid in Memphis that arrested more than 100 people, the largest raid in the city’s history.
- Sep 11 A judge dismissed the deportation case against the Andhra Pradesh woman, yet ICE continued to require her reporting.
- Sep 17 ICE agent Christian Castro turned himself in to Minnesota authorities on a warrant for assault after shooting a Venezuelan man, and faces both state and federal charges.
- Sep 18 Castro entered a not‑guilty plea to the federal false‑statement charges.
- Sep 20 A man was wounded after being shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in North Austin, Texas, and taken to a local hospital.
- Sep 27 A federal judge scheduled a personal appearance for the man on September 30 and issued a temporary order halting his deportation.
- Sep 29 The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Justice Department’s emergency request, letting the Trump administration continue deporting migrants to third countries while the policy’s legality is examined.
- Sep 30 Supreme Court issued an emergency order allowing third‑country deportations to continue.
- Sep 30 An immigration judge ruled that Salah Sarsour, head of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, can be deported on national-security grounds despite his claim that the case targets his Palestinian-rights advocacy.
- Sep 30 The Justice Department lodged complaints with the 8th Circuit alleging that Minnesota federal judges made partisan statements about a Trump-era deportation surge.
- Oct 1 A federal indictment charging Garces Perez with assault was filed.
- Oct 3 The filing requests that the judges be barred from hearing Department of Homeland Security cases.
- Oct 3 A Chicago immigration judge allowed a possible deportation of Salah Sarsour.
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